Depiction of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, forty days after his birth - 1600.

Contact between Europe and the Mughals began in 1573, when the emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) led his forces into Gujarat and captured the great port city of Surat. Here, he encountered Westerners for the first time. They were from the Portuguese settlement of Goa to the south, and as a result of this meeting Akbar decided to send an embassy to Goa. This led in 1582 to the first of several Jesuit missions from Goa to the Mughal court. The Jesuits brought prints and paintings that were shown to the royal artists, who began to copy or adapt elements from them. This scene may be based on a depiction of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, forty days after his birth. It probably dates to ca.1600-1610, and was formerly in the collection of Arthur Churchill, from whom the museum bought it in 1913.

Source: V&A, London