Qajar Motion Graphic 

The painting reflects the “new realism” introduced by Abuʾl-Hasan Ghaffari, also known as Saniʿ al-Mulk, in the middle years of the nineteenth century, during the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah (r. 1848–96), and disseminated by his contemporaries. Ghaffari’s work combined physiognomic likeness with the psychology of the subject to produce an often intense pictorial effect—a “real” presence—undiminished by rich decorative details, which in some artists’ hands might emphasize surface at the expense of illusionistic volume and depth.[1] Although this portrait lacks the overall impact of a work by Ghaffari, it demonstrates its painter’s participation in what was new at the time.