[Golestan, The Peacock Throne, Teheran, Iran] (Takht-I Taous)

Art Historical Context

This striking photograph by Luigi Pesce captures the legendary Peacock Throne, or Takht-e Tāvoos, housed in Tehran’s Golestan Palace during the mid-nineteenth century. Pesce, an Italian photographer active in Persia from the 1840s to 1860s, was among the earliest practitioners to document Iran’s royal heritage through the new medium of photography. His image preserves the throne’s elaborate form—adorned with jewels, enamelwork, and the iconic peacock motif—at a time when Qajar rulers still used it for ceremonial occasions. The Peacock Throne itself carries deep historical resonance as a symbo...

About the Artist

Luigi Pesce · 1818–1891

**Luigi Pesce (1828–1864)** was an Italian colonel and pioneering amateur photographer from Naples in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, whose work captured some of the earliest images of Iran's ancient monuments and 19th-century life. Arriving in Persia in 1848 during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Pesce was tasked with training Iranian infantry units, a mission that positioned him ideally t...