Courtiers with a Horse and Attendant, folio from an album

This drawing is one of several examples that take members of the Safavid court into the country, here a landscape divided into two parts by the meandering profile of a craggy brown rock. Emphasized by its deep blue color, a pool of water, or perhaps a mountain brook, is set near the center of the composition; behind it is a smaller rock, tinted pale blue as if cooled by the adjacent water. Two trees, one with birds perched in its branches, grow from the main rock; they are defined by delicate line drawing in black ink, augmented by the selective use of gray and red washes. Two men flank the pool: one, with a youthful, trim physique, can be identified as a Safavid prince or ruler. Facing him is an older, bearded, heavy-set man— most likely a guardian and instructor (lala)— who, unlike the royal figure, has a sword and dagger attached to his belt. In their hands, the prince and guardian hold thin objects that extend into the water. They are engaged in fishing.