Marble work

Taj Mahal, Agra

The cusped arches and panel of flowers are missing their pietra dura inlay, but the vegetal band around the flowers survives (or, perhaps, has been restored; it is not always easy to tell the difference). Also present is a vertical Koranic inscription. Calligraphy is made larger as the writing climbs up the building, so that all the letters appear the same size when seen from the ground. In keeping with the Taj Mahal's function as a funerary monument, Koranic quotations on the building refer to the delights of Paradise to come.