Reza Gholi Khan Hedayat

Description

Reza Gholi Khan, the patriarch of the Hedayat Family was a poet, historian and ambassador to Kharazm. He had the title “Lāleh” which meant tutor to the crown prince.
He was the author of several important reference books consisting of “Majma-Al-Fosaha” (a history of Persian poets and examples of their poetries), “Riaz-Al-Arefin” (an introduction about famous sufies), “travel to Kharazm” (The story of political affairs during his residing in kharazm) and two volumes of “Rozat Al Safa” (a full history of Persia including the Qajar period).
In this painting which is attributed to Jafar, Reza Gholi Khan is sitting in front of his books arranged on a shelf. He is wearing a precious kashmere gown with fur on the collar. He holds a cane in his hand and is wearing glasses.
As the superintendent of Dār-ōl-fonun, in which Jafar the painter had graduated from the faculty of art, Reza Gholi Khan must have been an important subject for the painter to try his best ability to create such a masterpiece.