Hugo Miguel Crespo
An art historian based in Lisbon, Hugo Crespo specialises in Portuguese Renaissance material culture and Asian decorative arts made for export to the European market or under Portuguese commission during the Age of Discovery. During the current year, he published Choices, a large book/ catalogue with the Lisbon-based art dealers AR-PAB, Álvaro Roquette and Pedro Aguiar Branco, who specialise in early Asian export art. Indian Jewellery and the Portuguese during the rise of the Mughal Empire
The Portuguese voyages of exploration culminated in the establishment of an annual maritime route to India. This period witnessed the rise of the Mughals and was the time when Indian jewellery first arrived in Europe via the India Run. Conversely, the arrival of exotic European objects at the court of Akbar caused a sensation, and had a profound and lasting influence on Mughal courtly art. Drawing from the extensive and hugely important collection of Mughal jewellery and jewelled objects in The al- Sabah Collection, the lecture will provide a better understanding of the artistic and technological interaction between East and West at this pivotal moment in time.