The Persian embassy to Europe (1609–1615) was dispatched by the Persian Shah Abbas I in 1609 to obtain an alliance with Europe against the Ottoman Empire. The embassy was led by the Englishman Robert Shirley.
Fresco detail of Robert Shirley visiting Pope Paul V, Sala dei Corazzieri, Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome. Painted in 1615–1616.
Abbas I as a new Caesar being honoured by the Trumpets of Fame, together with the Persian embassy, in Allégorie de l'Occasion, by Frans II Francken, 1628.
Robert Shirley and his Circassian wife Teresia, c. 1624–1627. Robert Shirley modernized the Persian army, and led the 1609–1615 embassy to Europe.
Persian embassy to Louis XIV
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The Persian embassy to Louis XIV caused a dramatic flurry at the court of Louis XIV in 1715, the year of the Sun King's death. Mohammad Reza Beg, was a high-ranking official to the Persian governor of the Iravan (Erivan) province. He had been chosen by the Safavid Persian emperor Soltan Hoseyn for the mission and travelled with a grand entourage, as suitable to the diplomat of a mighty empire.
Ambassade de Persie auprès de Louis XIV, studio of Antoine Coypel, c. 1715
Image: Amanzolide 1716
Image: Amanzolide illustration