Prince Masoud

Description

Although Masoud Mirza was the oldest son of Naser-Al Din Shah Qajar, he was not accepted as being the crown-prince by the rules of the royal court. The reason was that his mother did not belong to the royal Qajar family. Therefore, his younger brother, Mozaffar-Al-Din Mirza was appointed as the crown-prince by the shah.
At the age of 17, he became the governor of Esfahan province that lasted 34 years. Beside ruling Esfahan he gradually earned the governorship of many parts of Iran including Fars, Kermanshah and some other provinces. As a whole, he ruled over more than two fifth of Iran, as one British diplomat had mentioned.
His title “Zel-Al-Soltan”, meaning “the shadow of the king” was granted to him by his father, Naser-Al Din Shah.
Resting on his enormous power and wealth, he arranged a regiment of forty-thousand highly trained soldiers. Zel-Al-Soltan was interested in the orderliness and discipline of the Austrian army, therefore in this huge painting, Ze-Al-Soltan appears in an outfit which is an adaptation of the Austrian army’s uniforms and helmets. In addition to the medals on his chest, he wears a red “knight of the garter” on his thigh. This -British order of the garter- was a significant gift from the king of Great Britain and was only endowed to Kings and Crown-princes.

The horse in the painting is in an imposing presence. Attached to the saddle, there is a gun placed in a case that is beautifully adorned with the golden sign of “the Lion and the Sun”. The bridles are delicately decorated with jewels. The cloth on the saddle has a pleasing green color.
The painting has the signature of Agha-Ebrahim who had the title: “Naghash- Bashi”, from the imperial court. He was a famous painter of that time who lived in Esfahan.
He has executed several portraits of Zel-Al-Soltan. Considering the quality and the size, this is the most distinguished one