The King's Portrait and the Representation of Power in Qajar Era Comparative study of power discourse in the art of Fath-Ali-Shah & Nasser-Aldin Shah's eras

In each historical period, the King’s portrait has its own meaning and specific purpose for his reign and it has been discussed from different aspects. This article investigates comparatively the causes and conditions of the presentation of the King’s portrait on artistic works of Fath-Ali-Shah and Nasser-Aldin-Shah’s periods in order to reveal the dominant opinions of representation in each era through studying the relationship between art and politics, the changes in visual representation and the methods used to transfer the desired goals in each of the courses and the differences between them. The hypothesis of this study is the different influence of tools and mechanisms of each artistic period on the expression of authority, power, its application and legitimacy. By using a descriptive-historical method, this article analyzes and compares the structures used for representing the King’s portrait in each of these two periods. As a conclusion, it seems that although the two kings belong to the same dynasty and thus there should be the same goal for generating the King’s portrait on various products, due to socio-political reasons and changes, the use of Fath-Ali-Shah’s portraits at that time was to show and prove his authority and hereditary glory of an ancient monarchy to the European powers. On the other hand, as a result of technological changes, in Nasser-Aldin-Shah’s era the visibility of the King and the discourse of that period changed a lot and thus the portrait of the King, even on banknotes or in newspapers, was used mainly to consolidate the bases of power in the society.