A great innovation in Mughal painting was the introduction of realistic portraiture, with the face in profile from Shah Jahan’s time onwards. Emperor Akbar himself ‘sat for his likeness, and also ordered to have likenesses of all the grandees of the realm’. Jahangir continued Akbar’s practice of collecting portraits of court personalities. Here, Sher Afghan Khan, Jahangir’s jaghirdar and first husband of his later wife, Nur Jahan, is shown in an unusual portrait limited to his bust. He is simply attired, holds a flower in one hand and a jewel in the other.   
Humayun may have acquired a taste for portraiture during his stay in Shah Tahmasp’s court which led him to commission one of the earliest dynastic portraits of the Mughals in the famous ‘Princes of the House of Timur’ painting. As he brought the Iranian artists back to Hindustan and established the Mughal school of painting by amalgamating indigenous artists and traditions with Persian ones, Mughal painting and its various genres evolved over time across emperors, painters and artistic influences. However, it was during the reign of Jahangir, and then later Shah Jahan that the art of Mughal portraiture came to its fruition. 
For Jahangir, portraiture was not only an example of great art and artistic virtuosity, but it was also a scientific instrument by means of which he could study the world. He strongly believed that the outer appearance of an individual would reveal their inner being. And as the portrait was considered as a reliable substitute for the presence of the subject, these were objects of great importance. Jahangir would closely study portraits to gauge and assess the personality of the subject. Undoubtedly, artists were experts in understanding human physiognomy and rendering a likeness that was most akin to subjects, especially the nobles and courtiers. 
For the emperors however, a true likeness was not always the preference. During Akbar’s reign, one notes an undeniable realism in his portraits. However, during Jahangir’s and Shah Jahan’s era, realism was replaced with a more formalized style that projected a model or ideal emperor. More formal compositions, much like this painting, of the subject in a profile view holding a flower or jewel, emerged. Paintings with figures in larger and busier scenes made way for paintings which focused on one individual rendered with impeccable precision and realism. Technical mastery was supplemented with an acute psychological understanding. The best portrait painters were those that presented sensitive and expressive portraits.