India’s Great Mughals Now at The VMFA

05.2026

India’s Great Mughals: Art, Power, and Opulence showcases 200 sumptuous objects, including intricate paintings and manuscripts, lavish textiles, architectural elements, metalwork, furniture, arms and armor, and dazzling precious stones.

“We at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts are delighted to provide our visitors with remarkable access to incredible works of art from around the world,” said VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “Traveling from London, England, and featuring additional objects from our own permanent art collection and from other important U.S. museums, this is a rare chance to see spectacular objects from the golden age of the Mughal Court up close.”

Exquisite works of art — many made in the imperial workshops — convey the power and tastes of the three most celebrated Mughal emperors: Akbar (r. 1556–1605), Jahangir (r. 1605–27) and Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58). From the tiniest jeweled objects to the monumental wonder of the Taj Mahal, this highly sophisticated and globally connected empire produced treasures of unparalleled splendor and magnificence.

The extraordinary creative output of the imperial ateliers conveyed the Mughals’ great wealth and power. In addition to glorifying the emperors, these diverse artistic productions also signaled worldliness. Descendants of a Central Asian prince, these cosmopolitan emperors presided over a multicultural court that fused Indian and Iranian cultures and regarded the empire’s array of languages and religions with great interest. Most notably, they encouraged artistic exchange with Europe, China, Africa and the Americas, and elevated the importance of cultural and artistic pursuits to new heights. India’s Great Mughals: Art, Power, and Opulence is organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The coordinating curators for VMFA are Dr. John Henry Rice, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

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Richmond, VA 23220

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