TEHRAN - A selection of drawings and paintings created by the famed Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah (1821-1896) have been put on show at the UNESCO-registered Golestan Palace in downtown Tehran.

Nasser ad-Din Shah, who tested his artistic taste in a variety of arts, was intrigued by painting and drawing, Mehr quoted Afarin Emami, the director of the World Heritage site, as saying on Wednesday.

He was the student of Abul-Hassan Khan Ghaffari Sani ul-Molk, and his works, like his master, follow the principles of naturalism, describing all the details he saw, and they are an amalgam of ancient Iranian styles influenced by the European ones, she explained.

“13 artworks can be visited online on the palace’s official Instagram page,” the official added.

Nasser ad-Din Shah was a different and effective ruler in certain areas. He introduced telegraph and postal services, built roads, opened the first school offering education along Western lines, and launched Iran’s first newspaper. He visited Europe and was impressed with the technology he saw there.

Although the monarch had a desire for a modern Iran, his style of governance was dictatorial which won little support from his people. Most reforms took place under his Prime Minister Amir Kabir who was unlimitedly been executed upon his decrees.  

Nasser ad-Din Shah reigned for nearly 50 years from 1848-96 when he was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani, who believed that the Shah's concessions to foreign powers, including the British Empire, could threaten the region by making it vulnerable to being conquered by European imperialism in the same way that India was.

ABU/AFM