Emperor Jahangir standing tall in London

Indian art seems to be the flavour of the season and standing tall among several exhibits across the globe is a 17th-century life-size portrait of Jahangir which is being billed as the largest painting to come from the Mughal empire.

The six-foot portrait is among 60 works of the "The Indian Portrait 1560-1860" show currently on at the National Portrait Gallery in London curated by Rosemary Crill and Kapil Jariwala.
   
The curators decided not to borrow the art works from India at the outset.
   
"The only difficulty was choosing which to display as there are such superb collections available outside India," says Crill.
   
According to her, the show is an overview of the genre.
   
"All the works are significant and we have tried to select those which are not only good paintings but also tell us something about individuals or society in India between 1560 and 1860," Crill said.

The portrait shows Jahangir seated on a European-style chair, his head surrounded by a radiating nimbus of light, balancing a globe in his right hand. He is dressed in court garments, including a patterned sleeveless jacket and two 'patkas' (sashes) around his waist.

A lengthy Persian inscription written in a fine hand around the edge of the painting records that the portrait was done in the 12th year of Jahangir's reign.

While the medium of watercolour and gold on cotton would have been familiar to Mughal artists, Crills say the portrait's large scale and colouring derive from European oil painting.
   
The artist is not named, although his skill is praised in the verse. At the bottom right of the inscription is a small cartouche with the words 'Amal-i-kamtarin (work of the lowliest), but the matching cartouche in the bottom left hand corner has been damaged so that the name of the artist is no longer visible. Abu'l Hasan, the highest ranking painter of the time, has been suggested as the artist.

According to Crill, the National Portrait Gallery is used to putting on shows of historic works, although they are usually European rather than Indian. This exhibition runs until June 20.
   
Another important work at the exhibition include two portraits from the private collection of artist Sir Howard Hodgkin, two pages from the Padshahnama made for Shah Jahan, now in the Royal Collection, and a pair of images of the Mughal courtier Inayat Khan close to death, which have never previously been shown together in the UK.
   
There are also striking portraits such as those of Amar Singh II of Mewar taking his ease, and the Maratha general Ram Rao Phalke, which call for a re-examination of portraiture in India.