'Shamsa with Portrait of Aurangzeb' Canvas Cloth Print, c.1645

Provenance

The sunburst — shamsa — closes the album: a dense field of gold and lapis lazuli, worked with floral and geometric precision by hand, its light radiating outward in concentric rings. The gold was tooled with pinpricks to catch more light. At the centre, where a plain disc once stood as an emblem of divine sanction for Shah Jahan's rule, a small portrait of Aurangzeb was later inserted. He holds prayer beads. His father is now under house arrest.

The illumination was made between 1640 and 1655, probably by Bichitr, one of the most accomplished painters of Shah Jahan's court. The original design embodied the Mughal concept of the king as the earthly reflection of divine light. The shamsa was the traditional closing ornament of imperial albums, and its visual language was mathematical: geometric perfection as an image of the divine order.

The addition of Aurangzeb's portrait after 1658 rewrites the page's meaning. What was a symbol of his father's legitimacy became, through a single small intervention, a claim to his own. The album passed into the imperial library under new ownership. The light remained; the centre changed.

Disclaimer:

• The frames shown are for display purposes only and are not included with the artwork.
• As these are made-to-order designer pieces, expect minor colour variations from the displayed artwork.