.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Full-length portraits of young men, women and couples became a popular subject in Safavid miniature painting across the late 16th and 17th centuries. The theme was popularized by Reza ‘Abbasi and his contemporaries, foremost among them was Muhammad Qasim. Reza ‘Abbasi’s diversified it into multiple subjects during his late career, from dervishes to eccentric figures and European youths (Canby, 1996, p. 165).
The facial features of this Safavid youth is closely comparable to that of the central character in Muhammad Qasim’s Chastisment of a Pupil dated AH 1014/1605–6 AD (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no.11.84.14). Both characters bear a generous full face and a finely penciled Safavid turban, along with the robe covered in birds and wind-shaped clouds in the style of Reza ‘Abbasi. Two closely comparable portraits of Safavid youths bearing a sword are in the Detroit Institute of Arts, inv. no. 44.275 (Canby, 1996, p. 153, cat. 112) and the Freer Sackler Gallery, inv. no. S1986.305.
A closely comparable example was sold in these Rooms, 10 May 2018, lot 1007.
The facial features of this Safavid youth is closely comparable to that of the central character in Muhammad Qasim’s Chastisment of a Pupil dated AH 1014/1605–6 AD (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no.11.84.14). Both characters bear a generous full face and a finely penciled Safavid turban, along with the robe covered in birds and wind-shaped clouds in the style of Reza ‘Abbasi. Two closely comparable portraits of Safavid youths bearing a sword are in the Detroit Institute of Arts, inv. no. 44.275 (Canby, 1996, p. 153, cat. 112) and the Freer Sackler Gallery, inv. no. S1986.305.
A closely comparable example was sold in these Rooms, 10 May 2018, lot 1007.