CURATORS OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY'S NEW EXHIBITION 'THE INDIAN PORTRAIT 1560-1860' WILL REVEAL A SIX-FOOT, 17th CENTURY LIFE-SIZE PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR JAHANGIR WHICH THEY CLAIM IS THE LARGEST PAINTING TO COME FROM THE MOGHUL EMPIRE. JAHANGIR HOLDING A GLOBE, DATING FROM 1617, IS OPULENTLY PAINTED IN GOLD AND WATERCOLOUR ON COTTON AND INCLUDES RELIEF JEWELRY. APART FROM ITS APPEARANCE IN AN AUCTION HOUSE CATALOG IN 1995, THE EPIC PORTRAIT HAS NEVER BEEN PREVIOUSLY BEEN SEEN. IT SHOWS THE EMPEROR SEATED ON A EUROPEAN-STYLE CHAIR, HIS HEAD SURROUNDED BY A RADIATING NIMBUS OF LIGHT, BALANCING A GLOBE IN HIS RIGHT HAND. THESE ALLUDE TO HIS HONORIFIC NAME, NUR AL-DIN (LIGHT OF THE FAITH) AND TO THE NAME THAT HE TOOK ON HIS ACCESSION TO THE THRONE, JAHANGIR, MEANING 'WORLD-SEIZER'. HE IS DRESSES 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 PAINTED IN THE TWELFTH YEAR OF JAHANGIR'S REIGN. IT PRAISES THE EMPEROR AND EXTOLS HIS VICTORIES, INCLUDING HIS CONQUEST OF THE DECCAN IN THAT YEAR. THE PORTRAIT IS ONE OF THE STAR EXHIBITS IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY'S NEW EXHIBITION, THE FIRST TO BE DEDICATED TO INDIAN PORTRAITS WHICH BRINGS TOGETHER 60 WORKS SPANNING THREE CENTURIES FROM INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. IMPORTANT LOANS INCLUDE: TWO PORTRAITS FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF ARTIST SIR HOWARD HODGKINS AND TWO PAGES FROM THE PADSHAHNAMA MADE FOR SHAH JAHAN, NOW IN THE ROYAL COLLECTION.
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