While the inscription in the drawing assigns it to the celebrated artist Riza-yi ‘Abbasi of the Isfahan school, it is more likely by a pupil following the typical calligraphic style of the master. From about 1610 on, figures in Isfahan drawings and paintings have heavy pear-shaped thighs and wide, round cheeks. The subject of a youth paired with an older man, often a dervish or a poet, illustrated the relationship of the spiritual guide or ‘pir’ and his disciple, the ‘murid’.