Woman Dancing
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- In this state since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
The painting may well have been removed from a palace erected during the reign of Fath 'Ali Shah, who ruled Iran between 1797 and 1834. His residences were often decorated with series of oil paintings in this style, which were built into the walls. The individual paintings are usually portraits of a single, large human figure. The shapes of the figures are flattened out, but there is a great deal of decorative detail.
Many of the series painted for Fath 'Ali Shah show imaginary portraits of members of a royal harem. In this case, a woman is shown dancing.
Read on
Painting in oils was introduced to Iran after 1600, when the country had strong commercial links with Europe. Production shrank during the troubled period after the Afghan invasion of Iran in 1722. It burst back into life under the Qajar dynasty, who re-united the country in the 1780s and 1790s. Fath 'Ali Shah was the second ruler of this dynasty, and his patronage led to this revival of oil painting.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- P.21-1933
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 3 days ago
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
