Portrait of `Ali Quli Mirza, I`tizad al-Saltana

Art Historical Context

This striking portrait, created in 1856–57 by the celebrated Persian artist Abu’l Hasan Ghaffari—known as Sani’ al-Mulk—depicts `Ali Quli Mirza, I`tizad al-Saltana, a prominent Qajar prince and statesman. Painted during the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah, the work reflects the refined court culture of nineteenth-century Iran, where royal patronage supported both traditional arts and new forms of representation. As a single-page work on paper rather than part of a larger manuscript, it highlights the growing popularity of independent portraits among the Qajar elite. Sani’ al-Mulk masterfully combi...