Mihr 'Ali (; also spelt Mir Ali or Mehr Ali; ) was one of the great royal painters of the

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

court during the reign of

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...

, and is regarded as the most notable Iranian portraitist of the early part of his reign.Sotheby's
Mihr Ali was one of the foremost painters of early

Qajar art Qajar art was the architecture, paintings, and other art forms produced under the Qajar dynasty, from 1781 to 1925, in Iran (Persia). The boom in artistic expression that occurred during the Qajar era was a side effect of the period of relative ...

. Mihr 'Ali's chief skill was his ability to capture the portrait-sitter's grandeur and power, and as such he became a favourite painter of the Shah. Mihr 'Ali produced at least ten full-size oil paintings of Fat'h-Ali Shah, one of the earliest of which was probably sent as a present to the amirs of Sind in 1800. A further portrait, of the Shah enthroned, was sent to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Mihr Ali's finest portrait is an 1813–4 work, regarded by some as the finest Persian oil painting in existence. It depicts a full-length portrait of the shah wearing a gold brocade robe and the

Kiani Crown The Kiani Crown () was the traditional coronation crown in the Iranian Crown Jewels, worn by the Qajar shahs of Iran (1789–1925). The crown was designed under the first Qajar shah Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar () as a way to connect himself to the a ...

, while holding a jewelled staff. Fat'h-Ali Shah commissioned great numbers of lifesize portraits of himself and his sons, works which formed the backdrop to court ceremonies. The works, painted by Mihr 'Ali and his predecessor as court painter, Mirza Baba, portrayed Fat'h-Ali Shah in his many stately roles, and were intended to show his power as a ruler rather than to be realistic portraits. As a result, the works are heavily stylised, are painted in rich, deep tones, and are filled with symbols of power. Other important works by Mehr 'Ali include a series of portraits of Persian rulers and figures from the ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'', commissioned by Fat'h-Ali Shah as decoration for the 'Imarat-e Naw Palace in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

. This series of works was notable enough to be mentioned in the reports of many of the European travellers to Isfahan, such as

James Morier James Justinian Morier (15 August 1782 – 19 March 1849) was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the Qajar dynasty in Iran, most famously for the ''Hajji Baba'' series. Early life Morier was born in Ottoman Smyrna, the ...

(in ''A Journey through Persia in the years 1808 and 1809'', published in 1812), Sir

William Ouseley Sir William Ouseley HFRSE FSAScot (1767 – September 1842), was a British oriental studies, orientalist. Early life Ouseley was born in Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire, the eldest son of Captain Ralph Ouseley (1739), Ralph Ouseley an ...

in 1812 (in ''Travels into various Countries of the East'', published in 1823), and

Charles Texier Félix Marie Charles Texier (22 August 1802, Versailles – 1 July 1871, Paris) was a French historian, architect and archaeologist. Texier published a number of significant works involving personal travels throughout Asia Minor and the Middle Eas ...

(in ''Description de l'Arménie, la Perse et la Mesopotamie'', published in 1852). Until 1985, it was thought that all of the paintings in this series had been destroyed, but three have since been discovered and authenticated, those being portraits of Afrasiyab,

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

, and

Kay Khosrow Kay Khosrow () is a legendary king of Iran of Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book ''Shahnameh''. He was the son of the Iranian prince Siavash who married princess Farangis of Turan while in exile. Before Kay Khosrow wa ...

, though the Kay Khosraw portrait does not exist in its full form but has been reduced to only some 80% of its original size. Despite this, it sold at auction at Christie's in London in 2007 for £54,000 ($US 107,500). The other two works are also in private hands, having been auctioned by the same company in 1987. Mihr 'Ali was also a capable teacher, his pupils including the noted painter

Abu'l-Hasan Sani al-Mulk Abu'l-Hasan Khan Ghaffari Kashani (; 1814–1866) was an Iranian painter, miniature and lacquer artist, and book illustrator. When he became the Chief Court Painter, he also became known as Sani al-Mulk (), meaning "The Crafter of the Kingdom." ...

References

External links

Painting of Fat'h Ali Shah Qajar by Mihr Ali
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihr Ali Year of death missing Court painters 18th-century Iranian painters 19th-century Iranian painters Year of birth uncertain People of Qajar Iran