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Kangra artist, “Hanuman flies across the Ocean,” circa 1800, watercolor with gold on paper.

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‘PAINTINGS FROM THE ROYAL COURT’ AT FRANCESCA GALLOWAY MARCH 18 w/1 cut

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NEW YORK CITY — Francesca Galloway of London, in association with Sam Fogg of London, presents the exhibition “Paintings from the Royal Courts of India” at the Peter Findlay Gallery, Fuller Building, 41 East 47th Street, March 18–28.

The exhibition comprises some 40 miniatures including a number of highly important Indian paintings, several of which have not been seen in public for many years. The core of this exhibition comes from a major private collection assembled in the 1980s.

There are fine examples of Mughal paintings from imperial manuscripts as well as royal Rajput albums, a group of Bikaner paintings originally from the Bikaner royal collection and miniatures from other courts in Rajasthan, the Deccan and the Punjab Hills. Several examples show intriguing interconnections between the different schools such as the Deccani and Mughal influence on the Rajput styles of Bikaner and Amber.

One of the highlights is “Kakubha Ragini,” an illustration of an Indian musical mode or ragini, which has not been on public view since it was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1949–50. The painting is one of a group of rare and highly important Bikaner miniatures of the late Seventeenth Century, which are stylistically close to Golconda paintings from the Deccan.

The most famous miniature in its exhibition is a late Sixteenth Century portrait of young Ibrahim Adil Shah — a masterpiece of both portraiture and Deccani painting. This was last seen in 1985 in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Highlights among the Mughal exhibits is an illustration from the life of Alexander the Great that was in the collection of Warren Hastings, the first governor general of British India, 1773–85, and was probably commissioned by the Emperor Jahangir around 1610.

Finally, the Pahari section includes two dramatic scenes, which illustrate the torments and struggles of love.

For more information, www.francescagalloway.com or call the Peter Findlay Gallery at 212-644-4433.