In the hands of Friedrich Sarre in Berlin until 1945, and then his wife Maria Sarre in Switzerland until 1950, when it was sold to Paul Kempner for the Met Museum.
Also known as Riza yi-Abbasi or Āqā Riżā, Reza Abbasi is considered a leading figure of Safavid miniature painting during the later years of the era, in the court of Shah ‘Abbas. The Shah was known well for his political reform and hailing a resurgence of art in the Safavid court, which had allowed Abbasi to explore imagery and subject material that may have been shunned or otherwise disregarded previously.
In this painting, Abbasi depicts a woman being held by her lover, wearing what one can deduce was the fashion of the time, where robes were styled with golden sashes to act as belts. A few decades before this painting's attributed years, Abbasi was noted to commonly paint nude women, which makes this depiction all the more interesting and more romantically intimate. This intimacy is contrasted by the slightly blank faces of the lovers, a Persian painting convention where the expressions of the reference models for paintings were masked, perhaps out of respect.
The beautiful imagery that surrounds the pair is also notable, from wispy lines of thin branches and leaves to the left of the woman and more defined leaves to the right of the pair, reducing the empty space of the painting without leading the eye away from its subject. It is an intimate, but light-hearted, scene that demonstrates a casualness to the lovers' passion, perhaps because this is something they often do together: relish the moment.
This painting is a fine embodiment of refinery and rich taste, characteristic of Persian paintings. The use of gold foil on the edges and in the calligraphic lines on the painting gives it a rich colour and feel. Against this backdrop, the two lovers seem rather plainly dressed, in a relaxed embrace. Their expressionless face doesn’t betray their emotions. The hands of the lover, though, lie in a rather sensual embrace that gives the painting a subtle hint of eroticism.
