Ali Asghar () was an Iranian court painter of the

Safavid era The Safavid dynasty (; , ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shah Ismai ...

. He was the father of the renowned miniaturist

Reza Abbasi Reza Abbasi (), also known as Aqa Reza ( – 1635), was the leading Persian miniature, Persian miniaturist of the Isfahan School during the later Safavid period, spending most of his career working for Shah Abbas I. He is considered to be the l ...

, whose early works were probably influenced by Ali Asghar.

Biography

Ali Asghar was a native of

Kashan Kashan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kashan County), Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Earlies ...

. According to the accounts of Qazi Ahmad, Ali Asghar was one of his (Qazi Ahmad) teachers in

miniature painting Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript ** Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album ** Ottoman miniatur ...

. He probably began his career under

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

(1524-1576), before moving to

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

where he became one of the leading painters in the service of the princely governor

Ibrahim Mirza Ibrahim Mirza, Solṭān Ebrāhīm Mīrzā, in full Abu'l Fat'h Sultan Ibrahim Mirza (; April 1540 – 23 February 1577) was a Persian prince of the Safavid dynasty, who was a favourite of his uncle and father-in-law Shah Tahmasp I, but who was ...

, alongside Sheikh Mohammad and Abd-Allah. According to the court historian

Iskandar Beg Munshi Iskandar Beg Munshi (; 1561/62 – 1633/34) was an IranianPaulina Kewes, Ian W. Archer, Felicity Heal. The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed's Chronicles. — Oxford University Press, 2013. — P. 256. court scribe and chronicler, who is principally kn ...

, Ali Asghar excelled in landscape painting (streets and trees). He later worked for Shah

Ismail II Ismail II (; born Ismail Mirza; 31 May 1537 – 24 November 1577) was the third shah of Safavid Iran from 1576 to 1577. He was the second son of Tahmasp I with his principal consort, Sultanum Begum. On the orders of Tahmasp, Ismail spent twenty ...

(1576-1577) at the Safavid capital of

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

. Only two extant paintings bear an attribution to Ali Asghar's own brush: the double-page frontispiece from a 1560s manuscript of

Hatefi Abd-Allah Hatefi, commonly known as Hatefi (also spelled Hatifi; ; 1454 – 1521) was a Persian poet and nephew of the distinguished poet Jami (died 1492). Life Hatefi was born in 1454 in Khar Gerd, a village that formed a district of the town ...

's ''Timurnameh'', and "Iskandar building the iron rampart" from the 1576-7 ''Shahnameh'' of Shah Ismail II. B.W. Robinson has also credited Ali Asghar with painting the two-page frontispiece of this manuscript, "Royal Hunt," based on the aforementioned ''Shahnameh'' illustration. In addition to serving as actual models for the early artwork of his illustrious son

, Ali Asghar may have been Reza's introduction to the works of Mirza Ali (who thrived from the 1530s until around 1580) and well-known contemporary painters like Sheikh Mohammad and Muhammadi.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite journal , last1=Robinson , first1=B. W. , title=ʿAlī Aṣghar, Court Painter , journal=Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies , date=1988 , volume=26 , issue=1 , pages=125–128, doi=10.2307/4299806 , jstor=4299806 People from Kashan 16th-century painters from Safavid Iran Court painters 16th-century Iranian painters Iranian miniature painters Year of birth uncertain