The Old man and the Youth by Reza Abbasi

Mounted on an album page below a calligraphy signed by Nur al-Din Muhammad Lahiji, these two drawings form a single composition depicting an old man dressed as a dervish pursuing a youth with a wine bottle and cup. Although the drawings are ascribed to Riza-yi 'Abbasi, the quality of line here is more rigid and less sure than that of the master. The image of an old man yearning for a youth finds parallels in Persian mystical poetry. The line of poetry above the drawings refers to the virtue of a young male on the verge of manhood, but may be an ironic reference to the youth in the drawing.

The Old man and the Youth
Artist:Painting by Riza-yi `Abbasi (Persian, ca. 1565–1635)
Calligrapher:Nur al-Din Muhammad Lahiji
Object Name:Illustrated single work
Date:second quarter 17th century
Geography:Attributed to Iran, Isfahan
Medium:Ink, transparent and opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions:5 in. high 2.12 in. wide (12.7 cm high 5.4 cm wide)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1925
Accession Number:25.68.5
from Met Museum New York

Reza Abbasi
1565 - 1635

Reza Abbasi was the leading Persian miniaturist of the Isfahan School during the later Safavid period, spending most of his career working for Shah Abbas I He is considered to be the last great master of the Persian miniature, best known for his single miniatures for muraqqa or albums, especially single figures of beautiful youths

Riza was possibly born in Kashan, as Āqā Riżā Kāshānī is one of the versions of his name; it has also been suggested that he was born in Mashad, where his father, the miniature artist Ali Asghar, is recorded as having worked in the atelier of the governor, Prince Ibrahim Mirza After Ibrahim's murder, Ali Asghar joined Shah Ismail II's workshop in the capital Qasvin Riza probably received his training from his father and joined the workshop of Shah Abbas I at a young age By this date, the number of royal commissions for illustrated books had diminished, and had been replaced by album miniatures in terms of employment given to the artists of the royal workshop

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Unlike most earlier Persian artists, he typically signed his work, often giving dates and other details as well, though there are many pieces with signatures that scholars now reject He may have worked on the ambitious, but incomplete Shahnameh, now in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin A much later copy of the work, from 1628, at the end of Abbas' reign and rendered in a very different style, may also be his It is now in the British Library His first dated drawing is from 1601, in the Topkapi Palace A book miniature of 1601-2 in the National Library of Russia has been attributed to him; the only other miniature in the book is probably by his father He is generally attributed with the 19 miniatures in a Khusraw and Shirin of 1631-32, although their quality has been criticised

His speciality, however, was the single miniature for the albums or muraqqas of private collectors, typically showing one or two figures with a lightly drawn garden background, sometimes in gold, in the style formerly used for border paintings, with individual plants dotted about on a plain background These vary between pure pen drawings and fully painted subjects with colour throughout, with several intermediate varieties The most typical have at least some colour in the figures, though not in the background; later works tend to have less colour His, or his buyers', favourite subjects were idealized figures of stylishly dressed and beautiful young men.
https://hisour.com/art-medium/watercolor/old-man-youth-reza-abbasi/