Portraiture With the growing popularity of album-page compositions in seventeenth-century Iran, artists began to expand their repertoire of subject matter and experiment with new formats and pictorial styles. European art was one of the main sources of inspiration. Introduced by diplomats, merchants, and missionaries, all of whom began to frequent Iran at this time, Western paintings and luxury goods exposed Safavid artists to new pictorial notions, such as naturalism, perspective, and the play of light and shade. These new conventions are perhaps best expressed in the Safavid interest in more naturalistic figural representation. next page

Bearded Man Leans on a Staff Iran, Isfahan, ca. 1630–40 Ink and color wash on paper 33.7 x 22.8 cm (13 1/4 x 9 in.) Purchase—Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.312

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art Exhibition List | Online Exhibitions All presented material is copyright © Smithsonian Institution, 2008 except where otherwise noted.