Nasir al-Din Shah was assassinated May 1, 1896 while visiting a shrine south of Tehran to give thanks for the soon-to-be celebrated fiftieth anniversary of his reign. Legend has it that with his last breath he asked to be moved to Jayran’s nearby tomb, or perhaps he claimed “I will rule you in a different manner, if I live,” the inspiration for Filizadeh’s series. The scene here pertains to an account of how after the body of the shah had been washed, there was difficulty locating the appropriate ceremonial shroud. It reunites some of the key characters from Nasir al-Din’s life as depicted in this series. As in other scenes, it includes the pair of black- and white-clad angels, one of them holding a video camera and the other a quill pen. As now becomes relevant, these are the recording angels who in Muslim belief chronicle a person’s good and bad deeds in preparation for Judgment Day.
