Posed like a martyred Christian saint, and perhaps inspired by Mantegna’s St. Sebastian, Filizadeh here depicts the captive Mirza Riza undergoing a form of Qajar-era torture that seems to have been reserved especially for members of the Baha’i sect. Covered only by a loincloth, he has deep cuts in his flesh from which protrude lit candles, dripping wax and blood. The artist seems to have discovered this gruesome method of punishment through a print depicting a member of the Baha’i sect tortured in this manner.
