A 17th century painting that has a portrait of the great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his four sons was sold at a staggering amount of 378,900 pounds at an auction at the Sotheby’s. It was estimated that the Old Master painting by Dutch artist Willem Schellinks would fetch around 60,000 to 80,000 pounds. The painting is essentially a hunting scene, as identified by Richard Charlton-Jones, the Sotheby's specialist.
The painting shows the emperor Shah Jahan along with his four sons, mounted on horses. The recent discovery that this was an outstandingly rare painting that has a unique western depiction made it really popular among the various circles of art connoisseurs. Shah Jahan is considered to be one of the greatest Mughal emperors of all times who popularized the Mughal style of architecture. He is the builder of the world famous Taj Mahal and reigned India from 1628 to 1658.
Three more paintings of Shah Jahan are available, out of which two are displayed at Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Musee Gulmet collection in Paris and the third one is untraceable since it was sold at Sotheby’s in 1983. This particular painting has been a property of the renowned European collector Dimitri Mavrommatis since early 1990’s.
