Treasures of the Courts / Naser al-Din Shah & Mozafer al-Din Shah of Iran

Covering 500 years, 38 patrons and several continents, this lecture given by Dr Marie-Anne Mancio is part of a series at THE COURSE which looks at audacious acts of patronage and how they resulted in some of the finest art collections in the world. Naser al-Din was a poet, self-taught painter, and good draughtsman in pen and ink. A collector of European artworks and one of the first photographers in Persia, he founded a photography studio in Golestan Palace. He also encouraged a sculpture school and, in his art collection, gifts from European monarchs hung alongside works by key court artist Kamal-al-Molk (1847–1940). Naser’s son Mozafer also visited Europe where he became fascinated by film.