Mirza Gadim Iravani “Portrait of Rustam-Zal” (Persian mythology) . Republic of Georgia. Tbilisi. Georgian State Museum of Art.

The author is Mirza Gadim Iravani (1825-1875), a prominent Azerbaijani artist.

This piece of art used to decorate the interiors of so-called “Sardar Khan Palace” built by the order of Huseyn Ali Khan in Iravan in 20. century. It was taken to Georgia after Armenians had destroyed the palace in the early XX century.

The artist was involved in renovation of the palace, which take place in 1850, made a number of new compositions. Portrait of Rustam-Zal”, a character from the epic work of Ferdowsi “Shahnameh” is one of them.

The essence of the composition is featured by the character’s clothing and mellow gradation of background colors.