Calligraphic Composition Envoking Her Holiness Massumeh

Reverse painting on glass is a decorative technique in which artists apply paint, gold leaf, and silver leaf to the back of a glass panel. The image is then viewed from the front, through the glass. The technique began in Europe and, after the seventeenth century, spread to China, India, Africa, and Iran. In Iran, it became especially popular in the early twentieth century, when artists used it to create portraits of rulers, princes, princesses, and royal couples.
This panel features a bold inscription in nasta‘liq script that reads: "Ya Hazrat-i Ma‘sumeh alayhe salaam" ("O Her Holiness Ma‘sumeh, peace be upon her"), set against a glittering gold ground. Ma‘sumeh was the daughter of the eighth Shi‘i Imam, Musa Kazem, and the sister of Imam Reza. She is highly revered among Twelver Shi‘i believers. A grand shrine dedicated to her stands in the city of Qum.