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Objectillustration: Illustrated album leaf
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Author of the object'Ali Quli Jabbadar
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Type of arts & crafts
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MediumInk, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
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SizePage: H. 13 1/8 in. (33.3 cm) W. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm) Painting with out border: H. 6 in. (15.2 cm) W. 4 in. (10.2 cm) Painting with brown frame border: H. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm) W. 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm) Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm) W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
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Geography detailsMade in
Iran -
Country today
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DateA.H. 1048/A.D. 1673-74
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Type of sourceDatabase “Metropolitan Museum of Art”
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Fund that the source refers toMetropolitan Museum of Art
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This portrait from the Davis Album is one of several similar works depicting the same subject. From the velvet vest and furred collar and cap, the sitter can be identified as a Russian dignitary. In 1673, as the silk trade was growing between Iran and Russia, Czar Aleksey Mikhailovich sent Prince Andrey Priklonskiy as his ambassador to the court of Shah Sulaiman of Iran. Elements of the Indo-Persian style are evident in the gilt border of flowering grape vines, while the naturalistic rendering of brightly colored plants in the outer border reflects the European impact on Safavid painting in the latter half of the seventeenth century. A later copy of this portrait, falsely ascribed to ‘Ali Quli Jabbadar and dated 1716, reveals the lasting impact of this embassy and its recording by a leading artist at the court of Shah Sulaiman.