Royal Gallery

The Royal Gallery, also called the Royal Portrait Gallery, is a hallway within the Fire Nation Royal Palace containing large portraits of previous Fire Lords, including those of Ozai, Azulon, Sozin, Sozin's father, and at least one preceding Fire Lord. Each portrait depicts its subject holding aloft a fireball to signify their mastery of firebending, as well as imagery which summarizes events during their rule. The works of art are considered masterpieces and can take the entire career of artists to be completed.
Before 295 BG, there was also a series of portraits of the Fire Avatars opposing those of the Fire Lords. However, the Fire Avatars' portraits were destroyed by Yun during his attack on the palace.
== History ==
When Avatar Kyoshi first visited the palace, she was guided to the gallery by Chancellor Dairin. There, she noticed that the portraits of the Fire Avatars were spaced further apart than those of the Fire Lords, resulting in roughly one Fire Avatar portrait for every four Fire Lord portraits. Kyoshi's group paused by the portrait of Avatar Szeto, where the chancellor explained the life and accomplishments of the most recent Fire Avatar. Kyoshi subsequently moved to inspect Fire Lord Chaeryu's portrait, and queried Dairin about the flower imagery. Dairin was aghast at the symbolism that had been added without his permission, and ordered Kyoshi not to speak to anybody about the portrait.
During Yun's attack on the palace, he killed Lu Beifong and dragged his body to the royal gallery. He was confronted by Kyoshi and Chancellor Dairin, along with several of the latter's guardsmen. Yun managed to bend the mineral-based pigment in the portraits of the Fire Avatars, and launched spiked pellets at the others, killing Dairin and two of his men, and wounding many. Sifu Atuat shortly arrived on the scene, where she healed those that she considered savable, while Kyoshi managed to treat some of the more minor wounds with her own waterbending.
Fire Lord Ozai spent many long hours in the gallery when he was still a Prince, staring at the images of his forefathers, hoping they would provide him with some guidance.
When Prince Zuko received a message stating that he needed to learn the story of his great-grandfather's demise, he went to the Royal Gallery and stared at Sozin's portrait. Azula found him there and made a snide comment to her brother, before helping him out by telling him the history of Sozin.
After returning from exile, a distraught Ursa nervously walked the palace grounds before stopping to look at Ozai's portrait, reassuring herself by exclaiming that the former Fire Lord could no longer hurt her or her family.
== Known portraits ==
=== Portrait of Avatar Szeto ===
While many portraits of Fire Lords and Avatars held a ball of fire in one hand, Avatar Szeto hefted an abacus in his hand, with the beads set in real pearl. The abacus was racked to a calculation that ended in an auspicious number. In the other hand, Szeto wielded a giant stamp, carved from solid cinnabar.
This portrait was destroyed by Yun during his attack on the palace.
=== Portrait of Fire Lord Chaeryu ===
Fire Lord Chaeryu's portrait depicts vegetation, such as bundled rice stalks and a harvest bounty. It was still only partially complete by 295 BG.
Beneath him, there is a flower arrangement with two flowers sprouting from the same vase. A camellia, representing his son Chaejin and the Saowon clan, overshadowed a peony, representing his son Zoryu and the Keohso clan. Chaejin had paid off the royal painters to add this detail without either the Fire Lord or chancellor knowing.
=== Portrait of Fire Lord Zoryu ===
Fire Lord Zoryu sat for a portrait shortly after his purge of the Saowon clan in the Fire Nation Capital. It was presumably completed and added to the royal gallery after some time.
=== Portrait of Sozin's grandfather ===
This is the official portrait of Fire Lord Sozin's grandfather.
This Fire Lord is depicted in traditional Fire Lord attire, although the robes are slightly less ornate than the robes seen during Aang's lifetime, in a darker tone with less golden details.
The Fire Lord is standing amidst flowers and several leaves, and located behind him is a large design resembling a flower's petals. As with all of the other Fire Lord portraits, the sun is painted directly behind the ruler's head. In this particular portrait, the sun appears to be behind the darkened shadow of the moon. He is also shown holding up two fireballs.
=== Portrait of Sozin's father ===
This is the official portrait of the father of Fire Lord Sozin and grandfather of Fire Lord Azulon.
The attire in this portrait is very similar to the robes of his three consecutive successors, namely Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai. Unlike the previous set of attire, these robes contain more ornate gold trimmings.
An image of what appears to be a star behind a waning moon, representing the four cardinal directions, is depicted in the Fire Lord's left hand, with a similar symbol located at his feet. The portrait also contains many clouds and portrays a red sun behind the Fire Lord's head.
=== Portrait of Fire Lord Sozin ===
The official portrait of Fire Lord Sozin depicts him as he appeared during his first confrontation with Avatar Roku after the establishment of the first Fire Nation colonies.
Sozin is shown with a scroll in one hand, signifying all the laws he changed during his reign, and a ball of fire in the other. Above his head is the representation of the Great Comet, later named after him, that he used to wipe out the Air Nomads, beginning the Hundred Year War. Located at Sozin's feet are five firebending members of the Fire Nation military, signifying the military buildup during his reign. Behind his head is a bronze sun.
=== Portrait of Fire Lord Azulon ===
Fire Lord Azulon's portrait depicts him as a young man. The sun behind his head has a black outline, while his attire is exactly the same as his father's, with the exception of a new gold lining on the piece of his robe that hangs from his waist. Azulon is standing on top of a long-necked turtle, an animal that lives both on land and in water, and he is also shown holding up two fireballs.
=== Portrait of Fire Lord Ozai ===
The final and most ornate portrait in the hall is that of Fire Lord Ozai, who is shown bending black fire and with multiple metal cogs and smokestacks behind him. A large red-and-gold design is painted behind Ozai, and like all of the previous Fire Lords he is depicted with the sun behind his head. His portrait continued to be displayed in the Royal Gallery following his downfall at the end of the Hundred Year War.
== Trivia ==
* The wall-hanging scrolls mimic the style of Chinese Lizhou, scrolls commonly found in Chinese art.
* The design of the sun behind each Fire Lord's head is similar to the Buddhist design often seen in Tang Dynasty and Indian paintings, with the sun meaning enlightenment and the surrounding flames representing wisdom. It also resembles the halos found in Christian art, which represent godliness, a common motif with the Fire Lord.
* An image of Iroh as he would have appeared in the Royal Gallery if crowned Fire Lord was included in Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legacy of the Fire Nation. The portrait depicts Iroh holding flames in his left hand and a cup of tea in his right. A sun and jasmine flowers appear behind him, and a dragon sits at his feet.Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legacy of the Fire Nation, page 25.
== References ==
== See also ==
* Arts in the World of Avatar
* Fire Lord
de:Königliche Galerie
es:Galería Real
pl:Galeria królewska
Category:A to Z
Category:Arts
Category:Fire Nation
Category:Objects