"Portrait of the Russian Ambassador, Prince Andrey Priklonskiy", Folio from the Davis Album

'Ali Quli Jabbadar

dated A.H. 1048/ 1673–74 CE · Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper · Islamic Art

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.

Artist

'Ali Quli Jabbadar

Date

dated A.H. 1048/ 1673–74 CE

Medium

Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915