PaintingQajar Period, Early 19th Century
Materials and technique: Oil on calico
Kept in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Source: [1]
نقاشی رنگ روغن از فتحعلیشاه قاجار- موزه ویکتوریا و آلبرت
Painting in oils was introduced into Iran after 1600, when the country had strong commercial links with Europe. The technique seems to have continued in use during the troubled period that followed the Afghan invasion in 1722. It burst back into life under the Qajar dynasty, who re-united Iran in the 1780s and 1790s. The first great patron was the second ruler of the dynasty, Fath 'Ali Shah (reigned 1797-1834), who had numerous pictures of himself made for his own palaces and as diplomatic gifts. The founder of the dynasty, his uncle Agha Muhammad Shah, had been castrated as a child by his father's enemies and was considered repulsively ugly. Fath 'Ali Shah therefore had himself portrayed as a virile, youthful man, with a slim waist and a magnificent beard. - The Museum