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Article: PARADISIACAL HOUSE OF THE QUEEN.(The Complete Taj Mahal)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Architectural Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 EMAP Architecture. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE COMPLETE TAJ MAHAL
By Ebba Koch. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006. [pounds sterling]39.95
As everyone knows, the Taj Mahal is a wonder of the world so much so that, until you go there, it seems boring: so symmetrical, stereotyped and iconically exhausted. In fact, it is much more than that. The famous dome and minarets are just part of a great complex, most of which still exists in almost perfect condition. Curiously, for all its fame, there has been no monograph on the monument, a gap that Ebba Koch's new book fills with efficiency. She is professor of art history at Vienna university and an expert on Mughal architecture, so she has been able to set ...