If you think of the artistic mash-up as an invention of the Web 2.0 era, consider the illuminated texts and albums that emerged from the 17th-century Mughal dynasty, a mash-up of artwork intended to illuminate the history, culture, language and religious teachings of the era.

Some of the finest of these works will be featured in the exhibition “;Muraqqa': Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin,”; opening Thursday at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The exhibition arrives here after an international tour that included a stop at the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

“;Muraqqa'”; is a Persian word meaning “;patched”; or “;patched garment.”; It came to be applied to Indian albums from the Mughal period due to their patchwork construction, with each album folio, or page, consisting of numerous pieces of paper by several different master painters and calligraphers. The works, pasted together like scrapbook art, are often so seamless, they appear to be one piece of art, with details so intricate that many of the designs were made with “;brushes”; of a single hair.

“;The level of detail is really quite remarkable,”; said Shawn Eichman, the academy's curator of Asian art. “;The detail is so fine that we'll be including magnifying glasses along with the exhibition so people can get up really close and get an intimate view at the works.

“;Most of them are quite small. They were originally all meant to be included in books, or rather, in albums as folios,”; he said.

The format has helped to preserve them, although individual pages have been scattered around the world, so it's unusual to find so many pieces, like these, which come from a single book.

“;There are examples of complete albums in this exhibition as well,”; Eichman said, as well as one signed by the emperors to denote ownership.

The 86 Mughal-dynasty album folios comprise several jewel-like paintings, often illuminated with inks of silver and gold, as well as with inks derived from crushing semiprecious gemstones such as lapis lazuli and malachite. The works were commissioned by the Mughal emperors Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) and his son Shah Jahan (r. 1627-1658), who commissioned the Taj Mahal. The Mughal dynasty ruled India for more than three centuries, but the country's greatest artistic production of individual paintings was during the reigns of these two emperors.

On view are formal, often symbolic portraits of the emperors, depictions of members of the royal family in relaxed private settings, portraits of courtiers and of Sufi saints and mystics, genre scenes and natural-history subjects.

The works provide a window to understanding the culture of this golden age of Indian history because of the prosperity of the empire and tolerance practiced by its rulers, according to Eichman.

“;They were Muslims ruling a diverse population that was primarily Hindu. They were quite liberal and had wide interest in different religious doctrines,”; he said.

Given the tension in the region today, it is surprising to see Christian, Hindu and Islamic icons appearing side by side in the same works. In one piece an image of Jahangir by the artist Hashim is juxtaposed with a painting of Jesus by Abul'l-Hasan. In another allegorical work, Jahangir shoots at the head of an enemy, Malik Ambar, while Christian angels hover about his head bearing a sword and arrows.

One of the ways Mughal society learned about Christianity was through Portuguese Jesuit missionaries who started arriving in the 1500s, during the reign of Jahangir's father, Akbar. The missionaries brought texts also featuring botanical illustrations and European artwork, which the imperial Mughal artists incorporated into their own works, such that many of their 17th-century landscapes reflect the aesthetic of 16th-century Dutch and Flemish artists. Flora in page borders also begin to appear more naturalistic than stylized. In addition to miniature paintings, some works also include examples of European copper-plate engraving.

The golden age did not last as succeeding rulers did not have the same level of tolerance, quest for learning and understanding, but the show serves as a reminder that different ideas and religions can coexist with beautiful results.