Richard Karlovich Zommer

Tsar Nicholas II, St. Petersburg
Collection of a Shah of Iran (acquired as a gift from the above)

After studying at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, Richard Zommer spent many years painting in Central Asia and Transcaucasia. His works tend to be ethnographic in character, depicting the many peoples, monuments and traditions he encountered in his travels. The present composition depicts a massive procession of Shia Muslims on the Day of Ashura. Ashura marks the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar; it serves as the most significant day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson to Prophet Muhammad. In the process of grieving, Shias listen to sermons that commemorate Husayn and recount his martyrdom, and many make pilgrimages to the Mashad al-Husayn, the shrine in Karbal, Iraq, where Husayn's tomb may be found. Though now widely prohibited, many would practice traditional self-flagellation, particularly with a zanjeer (or chain). The blood shed was meant to honor the blood spilled in the Battle of Karbala, where Husayn was killed.

In the middle of World War I, and on the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II sought friendly relations with the Shah of Persia, hoping to create a political alliance that would prevent the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas II chose the present lot, Zommer's Procession of Ashura, as the appropriate imperial gift to offer the Persian Shah. The large-scale painting, while created by a Russian, underscores a certain reverence and sensitivity to Muslim traditions. Meanwhile, it recalls the aftermath of the Battle of Karbala, considered an epic struggle between good and evil. By offering this gift, the Tsar begged the Shah to believe that Russians and Persians were kindred spirits, and that their alliance would mean taking sides to fight against evil.

Tragically, the Bolshevik Revolution and the collapse of Russian military forces left Persia in a terrible state. Other vying powers attempted to use Persia's strategic location to their own advantage, and many Persian civilians starved after years of conflict and deprivation.