Man in a Long-sleeved Coat

Standing Portrait

This drawing of a middle-aged man with distinct Turkomen features is one of the rare examples of a true portrait in Persian art. In spite of the many single-figure paintings and drawings in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, few are distinctive enough for either individualized features or the depiction of some psychological state to be considered portraiture. In this drawing it is the face alone that reflects the artist's sensitive observation of the sitter while neither the pose nor any detail of the costume and headgear differ from the general type.

The artist's enormous control of the brush implies volume and depth with such economy that a mere variation in the pressure applied to the brush in a single stroke describes the bulging of the forehead or the bulbous shape of the layered headdress. A closely related portrait, both in intent and in the final effect, is the Old Man with a Cane in the Freer Gallery of Art (53.16).

[Swietochowski and Babaie 1989]

George D. Pratt, New York (until 1925; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Persian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 13–December 31, 1989, no. 27.

Swietochowski, Marie, and Sussan Babaie. Persian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989. no. 27, pp. 64–65, ill. pl. 27 (b/w).

Canby, Sheila R. "The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-Yi Abbasi of Isfahan." In The Rebellious Reformer . London: Azimuth Editions, 1996. no. 27, pp. 55–56, ill. p. 55 (b/w).