Album Page With An Equestrian Portrait of Mirza Muhammad Taqi Tabrizi
Album Page With An Equestrian Portrait of Mirza Muhammad Taqi Tabrizi
Depicts wealthy Isfahani man flaunting his wealth.
Title: Album page with an equestrian portrait of Mirza Muhammad Taqi Tabrizi
Date: late July 1665
Medium: painting with gold illuminated borders, dark blue margins sprinkled with gold
Credit Line: Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, MSS 1003 The Khalil Collections mss 1003
This painting depicts a privileged merchant travelling to a coffeehouse in Safavid Iran, specifically depicting how upper-class Isfhani residents travelled in public spaces. Scholars believe that he was most likely a descendant of a wealthy family, namely one of the Tabrizi émigré families. Coffeehouses in Safavid Iran served as places for people to freely discuss politics and religion, present poetry, and participate in leisure activities such as backgammon and checkers. The connected outdoor and indoor spaces also allowed the wealthy elites of Safavid Iran to flaunt their social status to the public. Unlike coffeehouses in Europe, Safavid coffeehouses were also made available to women once a week, making the coffeehouse one of the few places where women could participate in public life.