Some European scholars held the view that the Taj was designed by an
Italian - Geronimo Veroneo. This was first suggested by Father Manrique,
an Augustinian Friar, who came to Agra in 1640 A.D. to secure the release
of Father Antony who had been imprisoned by the Mughals. It was in Lahore
that he met Father Joseph de Castro, the executor of Veroneo who died
at Lahore in 1640 A.D., and it was Castro who told him about "the
Venetian by the name Geronimo Veroneo who came in the Portuguese ships
and died in the city of Lahore before he reached it..."
During the reign of Jehangir, a goldsmith named Veroneo did in fact
come to India and, as mentioned by Father Manrique, did die on his way
to Lahore. He lived for a time in Agra, and prospered there. He knew
many influential Europeans throughout the North Indian provinces, and
when he died, he was buried in the Christian cemetery of Padres Santos
in Agra.
The theory that Veroneo designed the Taj is intriguing and still finds
occasional champions, especially in Italy. But the scales of evidence
weigh heavily against it. True there is the testimony of Father Manrique,
but he was no more than a casual tourist who heard that the Taj had
been built by an Italian. However, nowhere else is mention made of Veroneo's
participation in planning the Taj Mahal. As a matter of fact, there
is no record that Veroneo had any skill other than that of working gold.
Other Europeans who saw the Taj under construction never mentioned his
name, and furthermore, it is difficult to suppose that an artist trained
in seventeenth century Italy, the Italy of Bernini, could build a mausoleum
that would typify Indo-Persian architecture. The Taj is not an isolated
phenomenon, the creation of a single mastermind but the glorious consummation
of a great epoch of art.
Tajmahal
Tour Packages
