Portrait of Nasir al-Din Shah, Commissioned by the Persian Ambassador to France S.E.A. Aminol Molk, From Victor Darjou, Paris, France, 1858

oil on canvas, framed

In good condition, clean and strong, as viewed.
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This portrait of  Nasir al-Din Shah is an iconic image of the monarch in full military glory, capturing beautifully the zeitgeist of an era.

During the Nasir al-Din Shah period, 1848 to 1896, Qajar society was in a state of flux. Western imperial powers were encroaching on all aspects of life across the globe, and Persia responded with dramatic social, political and economic reforms. These varied from the ludicrous, such as ballet skirts for Nasir al-Din Shah's harem, to the sensible, such as hiring foreign engineers to oversee the construction of infrastructure. 

This westernisation that began at the very apex of society, with a progressive, forward thinking monarch, was very much reflected in the art and architecture of the age.  As artist and patron Nasir al-Din Shah encouraged his atelier to an increasingly western aesthetic, ushering in an age where Persian artists were trained in western techniques or sent abroad on art scholarships to London and Paris.  Naturally the most sought after works in this artistic milieu were those produced by European artists.  Nasir al-Din Shah collected numerous European paintings and works of art for his private museum, and decorated his palaces with European canvases.

As a gift then, what could be more desirable than a European portrait of the Shah himself? Certainly the Persian plenipotentiary to France, S E A Aminol al-Molk, chose wisely when he commissioned this portrait for his monarch.  The tradition of equestrian portraits is an ancient one in Persia.  Depictions of the ruler on horseback dating back to the Parthian and Sasanian periods are found on bas-reliefs and decorating vessels and other decorative arts. 

The horse has ever been a symbol of power, and dominance, both in Persia and elsewhere.  There is a strong similarity here with the portraits of Napoleon on horseback by the French artist Jacques-Louis David.  David painted five versions of an equestrian portrait of the self-styled French emperor between 1801 and 1805, projecting an entirely idealised view of the crossing of the Alps by Bonaparte's army, in a shamelessly propagandist fashion.  These elements are incorporated here where the Shah is depicted in full military splendour astride a rearing horse, a formidable and impressive figure controlling his country and its future with the same effortless command with which he sits upon his stallion.  As Diba and Ekhtiar point out "For centuries in Western culture, the equestrian portrait has been perceived as a symbol of strength, intelligence, nobility and authority.  The horse was admired for its free spirit and understood as a metaphor for the people, while the rider was perceived as the one who disciplines and contains the horse." (Diba and Ekthiar, 1998, p.247).

Victor Darjou is known primarily for his portraits of the good and the great in France. He flourished from 1804-1877, apart from this iconic image of Nasir al-Din Shah, Darjou painted portraits of such figures as Transton-Lecomte the mayor of Reims, Marie-Hubert Baudet, Etienne Saubinet, Plumet-Folliart, Aubin-Louis Hédoin de Pons-Ludon, and J.B. Robert Dambry.