File:A portrait of Muhammad 'Ali the Gilder attributed to Mu'in Musavvir, Safavid Isfahan, Iran, dated November-December 1611.jpg

English: A PORTRAIT OF MUHAMMAD 'ALI THE GILDER

ATTRIBUTED TO MU'IN MUSAVVIR, SAFAVID ISFAHAN, IRAN, DATED RAMADAN AH 1020/NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1611 AD

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, with 8ll. of black nasta'liq above arranged in 2 columns on a gold ground, inscribed, signed and dated below, set within gold and red rules, with narrow three-quarter border around the portrait in pale and dark blue with a foliate design, the margins with floral design, the verso with 24ll. black nasta'liq from a Shahnama of Firdawsi arranged in four columns with gold intercolumnar rules, set within narrow gold border and blue rules, the margins plain with catchword, mounted Painting 6 ¼ x 3 ¾in. (16 x 9.6cm.); folio 12 5/8 x 7 5/8in. (32 x 19.4cm.)

Shabih-i nadir al-‘asri mulla muhammad ‘ali muzahhib, 'Likeness of the rarity of the age, Mulla Muhammad 'Ali the Illuminator (Muzahhib)'

ba-tarikh-i shahr-i ramazan al-mubarak sana 1020 ustadam riza-i ‘abbasi sakhta bud, 'My master Reza-i 'Abbasi had created [it] on the date of the month of Ramadan al-Mubarak, year 1020 (1611)'

A number of other versions of paintings of Muhammad ‘Ali the Gilder are known, all ascribed to Reza 'Abbasi but rejected by Sheila Canby. One, very similar to ours in style, is in the Keir Collection (B.W. Robinson et al. Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book, London, 1976, no. III.351, and pl. 81). Another is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc.no.55.121.25) and others are noted by Sheila Canby in The Rebellious Reformer, London, 1996, no. 590, p.210. The existence of the present painting indicates that at least one of the Reza paintings is authentic as the inscription here states clearly that the artist 'is copying it from the work of my master Reza'.

Although the inscription does not give his name, the artist of this painting is very likely to be Mu'in Musavvir. The inscriptions are in his hand and he signs as a student of Reza. Mu’in Musavvir was one of Reza ‘Abbasi’s most brilliant followers and is known to have copied the work of his master. There are a few instances where we know both the original by Reza and the later version by Mu’in. One such examples is the Nashmi Kaman-dar, ‘the Archer’, where the original by Reza is in the Harvard Art Museum (1960.197) and a copy by Mu’in is in the Smithsonian (S1998.15).

A Muhammad ‘Ali Muzahhib is mentioned by Schulz and Binyon et al. mention a Muhammad ‘Ali, a follower of Reza ‘Abbasi (Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson and Basil Gray, Persian Miniature Painting, London 1971 reprint, p.160). It is possible that the picture is a portrait of this artist.