This painting by the British artist Roderick MacKenzie (1865 – 1941) sits in a heavy frame inscribed with verses from the Qu’ran in Arabic script. This is the second version of the painting. The original commission is in the Victoria Memorial Hall - now a museum - in Kolkata. It shows the Delhi Durbar of 1903, a dazzling state occasion to mark the declaration of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as Emperor and Empress of India. Painted from a British perspective, it portrays the dominance of Britain over India. However, this image of British supremacy masks the realities and the often fragile nature of British power at a time when events elsewhere, such as the Boer war, prompted questions about the purpose and nature of British imperial rule.