(b ?Kashan, c. 1565; d ?Isfahan, 1635). Persian painter and draughtsman. The leading artist under the Safavid shah `Abbas I (reg 1588–1629) is known by three names, Riza, Aqa Riza and Riza-yi `Abbasi, and the study of this figure has been complicated by contemporary references, variations in signature and inscriptions by other artists. The Safavid chroniclers Qazi Ahmad (1606) and Iskandar Munshi (1629) refer to the artist as Aqa Riza. A drawing (Ham, Surrey, Keir priv. col., III.387) illustrating The Poet, the Robber and the Dogs, a story from Sa`di’s Gulistan (‘Rose-garden’), contains one inscription dated 1619 stating that it was executed by ‘Riza the painter of `A[bbas]’ and another inscription dated 1654 stating that Riza’s son MUHAMMAD SHAFI` `Abbasi coloured the drawing of ‘the deceased Aqa Riza’. The two forms of the artist’s name on one work confirm his single identity, although some scholars have believed that work attributed to him was actually done by two different people: Aqa Riza, active in the late 16th century, and Riza-yi `Abbasi, active from c. 1600 to 1635. Stchoukine’s landmark study outlined Riza’s stylistic development and demonstrated the unity of his work despite the various signatures and changes of style.

• Riza
  • Isfahan, §2: Art life and organization
  • Islamic art, §I, 7: Status of the artist
  • Muhammad Shafi`
  • attributions
    • Islamic art, §III, 4(i)(a): Painted book illustration: Scholarship
  • patrons and collectors
    • Safavid, §2: (2) `Abbas
  • pupils
    • Mu`in
  • works
    • Caricature, §2(ii): Islamic
    • Islamic art, §I, 8(iv): Subject-matter: Secular themes
    • Islamic art, §III, 4(vi)(a): Painted book illustration: Iran, c 1500–c 1750
    • Islamic art, §III, 4(vi)(a): Painted book illustration: Iran, c 1500–c 1750