![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Self-portrait_of_Colonel_Colombari.jpg/220px-Self-portrait_of_Colonel_Colombari.jpg)
Franz Colombari was an Italian officer and painter who served at the Qajar Iranian court and in the army between 1833 and 1848.
Biography
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/1836_review_of_troops_by_Ghahreman_Mirza%2C_son_of_Abbas_Mirza%2C_in_the_plain_of_Leydjan_near_Ravandouz._Watercolour_by_Colombari.jpg/220px-1836_review_of_troops_by_Ghahreman_Mirza%2C_son_of_Abbas_Mirza%2C_in_the_plain_of_Leydjan_near_Ravandouz._Watercolour_by_Colombari.jpg)
Colombari was an engineer and watercolour artist, and originally hailed from Piedmont.[1] In 1833, after gaining the rank of colonel, he moved to Qajar Iran.[2] While in Iran, he served in the army between 1833-1848, and also belonged to a circle of artists close to the young crown prince Naser al-Din Shah Qajar. Colombari himself, in particular, was a close confidant of the latter.
During the tenure of prime minister Haji Mirza Aqasi, Colombari assisted him in reorganizing the army and the production of weapons at the Tehran arsenal.[3] Colombari made numerous paintings and may have personally known Hasan Ghaffari, better known as Sani ol molk. In 1844, Colombari made a watercolour painting of Naser ad-din Shah Qajar. In 1847, he made a watercolour portrait of Mohammad Shah Qajar, the successor to Naser ad-din Shah on the throne.
References
[edit]- ^ Cronin, Stephanie. "ARMY iv a. Qajar Period". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ Modares, Mahshid. "European Artists in Iran During the Qajar Period". Caroun. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ Cronin, Stephanie. "ARMY iv a. Qajar Period". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
Sources
[edit]- Fuess, Albrecht; Hartung, Jan-Peter (2014). Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Seventh to Nineteenth Centuries. Routledge. p. 412. ISBN 978-1136917806.
Further reading
[edit]- M. M. Eskandari-Qajar, “Mohammad Shah Qajar’s Nezam-e Jadid and Colonel Colombari’s Zambourakchis,” Qajar Studies 5, 2005, pp. 52–79.
- L. Thornton, Images de Perse: Le voyage du Colonel F. Colombari à la cour du Chah de Perse de 1833 à 1848, Paris, 1981.