Two portraits, two views - transcript

[Sheila Canby] We have two contemporary portraits of Shah ‘Abbas in this exhibition and they’re quite good in pointing up the contradictions in his character.

We have one that was painted by a Moghul artist who came, with an Indian embassy, to Iran in 1613. It shows him simply standing alone on a dark green ground. And while his stature seems small, if you look closely at his face you see this very shrewd, intelligent look in this man’s eyes. And of course his trademark moustache.

In fact you can get a measure of how strong his will was, and how cleverly he arranged things in Iran.

He came to the throne with a plan. And he actually was able to realise most of his ambitions. 
And those ambitions really were to restore peace and prosperity to Iran. To restore its borders. To strengthen the religion by strengthening the rule of law. I think that those are really modern ideas.

And then the other portrait we have, is right at the end of his life, by a Iranian artist from 1627. And he’s sitting with a young beardless youth, arms entwined. 
And the youth is offering a cup of wine to him. So it’s a very intimate portrait. By 1627 he had probably achieved most of what he’d set out to achieve. And here we see him, taking his pleasure.