During the reign of Fath Ali Shah Qajar (1797-1834), he had a myriad of images created, depicting him as a powerful monarch of Iran seen in the format of paintings, garments, and iconography of the objects he carries. As a splendid ruler he was not only portrayed in life-size pictures with sumptuous garments, but in order to express his power of manhood and masculinity, he was also often painted with numerous progeny. Diba (1998) has already concluded that Qajar painting conveys power, wealth and potency. In that sense long beards and long swords seem to be used as attributes of manhood and power. In addition, Najmabadi (2001) has argued that before the nineteenth century, gender was not wholly differentiated between male and female figures in painting, and as the nineteenth century drew to a close, these figures became more distinct in relation to modernization and global contact. However, this type of gender difference was already present in early Qajar painting by the late eighteen and early nineteenth centuries, which begs the question of how modernity actually impacted representations of men and women during the Qajar era. It was not that modernity molded gender into more rigid categories; rather, it changed the aesthetics of gender in images.
Less known are aquarels and lacquer objects, in which different court scenes are depicted. The representations of the dignitaries provide another interesting insight into gender issues. Not only are the rulers and princes depicted with a high degree of masculinity considered very aesthetically pleasing at the time, but the women surrounding them also display a corresponding degree of feminine aesthetic; thus, the lower the social rank of the figure, the lower the aesthetic appeal. This differentiation also allows us to come up with a new definition of beauty during the early Qajar era, which is not so much the aesthetics of isolated, outward features but also the correspondence between the physiognomy and status. A further field that in the course of future research may prove of help is that of “firāsat”, the science of recognizing character traits from the face.
