 This artwork represents a 'transformation' both in time and structure. Pretend, if you can, that you're a member of Akbar's harem in his city of Fatehpur Sikri, built in 1571 near Agra, India. Perforations in a carved screen afford your only contact with courtly life including glimpses of the Anup Talao, a square pool with four bridges leading the emperor's seating platform. The screen itself, which is based on the embellished surfaces of the adjacent Turkish Sultana's house, gives just one indication of how Akbar's tolerance towards religion enabled Persian-derived and indigenous Hindu elements to be brought together without conflict to create, in Fatehpur Sikri, a masterpiece of city planning and architecture.      |