Under the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the opulent court witnessed its greatest splendor, particularly in architecture. Shah Jahan's predecessors Akbar and Jahangir promoted naturalism in depictions of personalities and events of the Mughal court. Shah Jahan, however, favored a style that added royal and iconic authority to imperial portraits. Here he is depicted in his old age, wizened but recognizable in his static and formal pose. The portrait was probably completed after the emperor's death: the pigments and motif of a dagger tucked into the waist do not appear in paintings until the reign of Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb.