Deriving from Persian artistic techniques, Mughal portraiture reached its apogee during the reigns of the great Mughal emperor-patrons Akbar, Shah Jahan and Jahangir. Much of the art produced in this period was commissioned for political reasons, and art was one method of ensuring power, increasing prestige and sending messages to the kingdom and rival dynasties. Western portraiture has become an incredibly important source of historical study because of what it can tell us about the tastes, rules, dress, politics and identity of periods and rulers. One of the reasons this hasn't quite...