Portrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar and his Vizier Haj Mirza Aghasi

Portrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar and his Vizier Haj Mirza Aghasi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This imperial portrait shows Muhammad Shah, the third ruler of the Qajar dynasty (r. 1834–48), seated on a verandah in a traditional pose holding a jewel-studded sword as his trusted vizier reads him a letter. He wears a scarlet, European-style military uniform with pearl epaulettes and bejeweled armbands (bazubands) and a Qajar astrakhan hat with a plumed aigrette. Watercolor portraits of Muhammad Shah are rare; this painting combines traditional and Europeanizing stylistic elements and highlights the transitional spirit of court portraiture during his rule.

Islamic Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar and his Vizier Haj Mirza AghasiPortrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar and his Vizier Haj Mirza AghasiPortrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar and his Vizier Haj Mirza AghasiPortrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar and his Vizier Haj Mirza Aghasi

The Met's collection of Islamic art ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions of Islam, with works from as far westward as Spain and Morocco and as far eastward as Central Asia and Indonesia. Comprising both sacred and secular objects, the collection reveals the mutual influence of artistic practices such as calligraphy, and the exchange of motifs such as vegetal ornament (the arabesque) and geometric patterning in both realms.