The DELHI PANORAMA by Mazhar Ali Khan Mazhar Ali Khan, a close relation of Ghulam Ali Khan, was primarily an architectural painter who produced the commissions from the last atelier including the great Delhi panorama for Metcalfe on view. This monumental painted cityscape of Delhi, dated November 25, 1846, is perhaps the first nearly 360-degree panorama ever to be painted by an Indian artist, surpassing all earlier landscape paintings from Delhi in detail, scale, and content. The protruding frame of the Lahore Gate is identifiable as the panorama’s vantage point. As we move clockwise from left to right, Mazhar Ali Khan’s skillful use of orthogonal frames directs the viewer’s gaze to the buildings, while the labels in both Urdu and English assert the view’s main focus. The British Resident Thomas Metcalfe has been suggested as the probable patron. His palatial bungalow is labeled, “Cothy [residence] of Thomas Metcalfe,” shown to the north of the city walls. As the eye moves from the turrets of the Lahore Gate to the Red Fort and its interior, European additions in the Qila are prominently displayed, as are the salatin quarters, inhabited by the often impoverished relatives of the imperial family. The sequence of labeled buildings constitutes the single most detailed portrait of nineteenthcentury Delhi, and is the only surviving image of many parts of the city following the 1857 uprising. The elite quarter of the city between the Lahore Gate and the Jama Masjid were both tragically dynamited by the British in 1858. Source: Asia Society, New York