The accession of Shāh ᶜAbbās I to the Safavid throne in 1587 does not mark an immediate, abrupt departure from earlier traditions of royal patronage. Instead, it is a culmination of forces at work throughout the second half of the sixteenth century which come together to alter both the nature of painting and of patronage during his reign. In part, these modifications of previous practice are due to the monarch's own aesthetics; in part, they are the result of the social and economic transformation of late sixteenth century Iran. In some ways the shah's patronage of painting would seem to be more catholic and less determined than that of his predecessors Ismaᶜīl I and Ṭahmāsp, and during his long reign it moves in several different directions and develops at least two divergent styles.