During the 17th century AD there was a radical change in the way the ruling dynasty of Iran was portrayed. Trade with countries in the West stimulated a taste for various types of European art in Turkey, Iran, and the Arab world. Oil painting was completely new to Iran, the first Islamic country where it was adopted.

Under the Qajars (1779-1924), the leading Iranian artists painted in oil, watercolour and on lacquer objects. Artists were sent to Europe to study, and returned to popularise both the style and technique of European oil painting.

The Qajar ruler Fath Ali Shah (reigned 1779-1834) was very concerned with his public image and so was quick to promote this new technique to glorify his reign. He commissioned many portraits of himself, mostly full-length and in his official costume, for his palaces. These works were often shaped like an arch to fit into a niche on the wall. He also ordered other portraits carved in rock reliefs, imitating the Achaemenid (550-330 BC) and Sasanian (AD 221-651) rulers of pre-Islamic Iran.