Preserved Pages BOOK AS ART IN PERSIA AND INDIA, 1300–1800 HANNAH HYDEN AND DAVID J . ROXBURGH
WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
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Preserved Pages BOOK AS ART IN PERSIA AND INDIA, 1300-1800 HANNAH HYDEN AND DAVID J . ROXBURGH
WOR CE ST ER ART M U S EU M
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DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD In the 1930s, with the interwar migration of many pioneering scholars of Islamic art from Europe, the study and collection of the arts of the Islamic world flourished in the U.S. The Worcester Art Museum was an active player in supporting these new developments through its exhibitions, programs, and acquisitions—most notably the purchase in 1935 of a remarkable group of major Persian and Mughal illustrated album and manuscript folios.
Today, the Museum’s important Islamic art collection includes several works from landmark manuscripts, such as the 14th-century Great Mongol Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”) and the 16th-century Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (“Gatherer of Chronicles”) commissioned by the illustrious Mughal emperor Akbar. Drawing on the Museum’s collection of disbound illustrated folios and the rich material as well as historical, literary, religious, and courtly contexts that they reflect, Preserved Pages shows how the book and album format radically shaped imagemaking in the Islamic societies of Persia and India for over five centuries.
These precious and rare folios in the collection have been out of public view for more than fifteen years. Guest curators Hannah Hyden and David J. Roxburgh have selected a superb group of folios from the collection and enriched our understanding of them with their rigorous insights and scholarship, so that these brilliant works of human achievement can inspire a new generation. Along with Vivian Li, Associate Curator of Asian Art and Global Contemporary Art at the Museum, they have worked tirelessly to realize the exhibition and this publication.
I would like to thank Mahroo and Barry Morgan and their family for their generous and touching support of this exhibition. Ever since her graduate school days at Clark University, Mahroo has had a passion for the works included in Preserved Pages, gaining intimate knowledge of them, first as an invited researcher and later as an educator of the Islamic art collection.
As planning began for this exhibition, Mahroo helped us forge key connections within the community around the project, and made a personal gift to bring this publication to life. Soon after, Barry, along with daughter, Mitra, and son, Tav, made the decision to surprise Mahroo with a major gift to the exhibition in her honor. We are indebted to Mahroo, Barry, and their children for their longtime love of the arts and the Museum, and their enthusiasm for sharing the inimitable virtuosity and ingenuity of the arts of the Islamic world. Matthias Waschek C. Jean and Myles McDonough Director Worcester Art Museum
Cover: CHAINED DROMEDARY, Iran, Safavid period, late 1500s to early 1600s, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.185
Left: PORTRAIT OF AWRANGZIB, OR POSSIBLY DARA SHIKOH (D. 1659), BROTHER OF AWRANGZIB, India, Mughal period, 1600, watercolor and gold on paper; Bequest of Charles B. Cohn in memory of Stuart P. Anderson, 1985.133
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Preserved Pages BOOK AS ART IN PERSIA AND INDIA, 1300-1800 This publication of works drawn from the collection of the Worcester Art Museum highlights the book as the primary context for the visual arts across the historical Islamic lands. It focuses on Iran and India in the period after the Mongol conquests of the 1200s through the empires of the Safavid and Mughal dynasties up to 1800. Two kinds of objects are presented: manuscripts and albums. The illustrated Persian texts on display comprise the genres of history, biography, poetry, and religious subjects. Each leaf was originally part of a group of folios (pages) that formed a book in a sequence of alternating text and image. Blocks of calligraphy and painting were embellished with gold and polychrome illuminations and rulings, and protected by sturdy bindings.
The arts of the book held a special place in Islamic societies because books preserved knowledge and thought for posterity. The general importance accorded to manuscripts and writing stemmed from the status of the Qurʾan in Islam as divine revelation. An extraordinary premium was placed on the artistry and technical ability required for making books. With the passage of time, skills grew ever more specialized, and calligraphers and artists were eagerly sought out and supported by elite patrons. Alongside these developments, it became increasingly common to document calligraphers’ and artists’ lives, and for them to sign their work.
While luxury books were collaborative projects—mostly produced in royal sponsored “book workshops” (kitābkhāna)—the album comprised formerly loose, disparate artworks. These were chiefly single-sheet calligraphies in different scripts, paintings, and drawings which their makers commonly signed. Like courtly manuscripts, albums were culturally valued and prestigious objects used by individuals or shared with a restricted group of peers for edification and entertainment.
[CHECKLIST noS. 1-2]
Left: KAY KHUSRAW GIVING HIS TESTAMENT, folio from the “Big-Head” Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”), by Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi, Copied by Salik b. Saʿid, Made for Sultan ʿAli Mirza, Lahijan, Gilan, Iran, 1494, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.23
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FIRDAWSI’S SHĀHNĀMA (“BOOK OF KINGS”) Among the several writings that inspired court commissioned manuscripts, one of the most prominent was the Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”) by Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi. Completed around 1010, it is a landmark of epic Persian poetry comprising some 50,000 rhyming couplets. Firdawsi sought to preserve knowledge of the history of the pre-Islamic kings of Iran, from its first ruler Gayumars to its last, Yazdgird (d. 651). The poem covers a period from mythical dynasties to historically attested ones, such as the Achaemenids (500s to 300s BC) and Sasanians (r. 224-651).
Traces of the pre-Islamic past populated Iran’s landscape, including Achaemenid Persepolis, the nearby Achaemenid royal necropolis of naqsh-i Rustam, and reliefs at other Sasanian sites such as Bishapur and Taq-i Bustan. Sasanian artistic heritage was also known from portable objects—metalwork and textiles—disseminated across Iran and Central Asia in the first centuries of Islamic rule. Arab armies had come to Iran in the 600s, initiating a period of political consolidation, religious conversion, and steady expansion into Central Asia.
Born about 940 in the town of Tus—near Mashhad in northeast Iran—Firdawsi was a member of the pre-Islamic land-owning class (dihqān). To compose the Shāhnāma, Firdawsi gathered written texts and tales transmitted orally by storytellers to produce his version of the history of pre-Islamic kings. The Shāhnāma was representative of the revival of Persian culture, literature, and language underway in eastern Iran and Central Asia during the rule of the Samanid dynasty (r. 819–1005).
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The Shāhnāma spans many generations, 50 regnal cycles of kings (shahs). It is an epic populated by kings—some wise, some feckless—heroes, villains, and demons, all engaged in a constant battle between good and evil. So long as the chosen ruler occupies the throne, god (Yazdan) will protect Iran against the devil (Ahriman).
Stories related to the Shāhnāma were embedded in a range of objects, including ceramics and wall paintings, but the earliest illustrated texts date to about 1300 under Ilkhanid Mongol rule over Iran (1256–1353). The most monumental example is the so-called “Great Mongol” Shāhnāma, which reflects the contemporary efflorescence of Persianate culture and the impact of cultural exchanges with China.
The subjects chosen for illustration in the “Great Mongol” Shāhnāma highlight the constant ideological potential of Firdawsi’s Shāhnāma. The stories supplied with paintings—and their specific pictorial features—could enhance meanings of the text to contemporary politics and society. At its core, the epic promoted kings and their right to rule, a message of constant value to generations of royal patrons. They commissioned Shāhnāmas as a means of manifesting their legitimacy and their political order.
While the Shāhnāma continued to be a staple of the most elite patrons of the arts of the book, it was also appropriated by regional rulers and governors. For them, the text held the same political values, even if only aspirational in terms of real power, as well as the constant appreciation of Firdawsi’s storytelling and the didactic value of the epic. The actions—and their consequences—of the cast of characters offered moral and ethical lessons and implicit guidance in statecraft. Recurring themes of the Shāhnāma also include destiny, the battle between the forces of good and evil, and the perpetual enmity of the regions surrounding Iran.
[CHECKLIST noS. 3-7]
Right: BAHRAM GUR HUNTING ONAGERS, folio from the Great Mongol Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”), by Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi, Tabriz, Iran, Ilkhanid period, about 1330, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Attributed to the patronage of Abu Saʿid (r. 1316–35), Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.24
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY
Historical writing had always occupied a prominent place in the intellectual endeavors of Islamic societies. They took diverse forms from cursory, annalistic histories to universal compositions encompassing the span of creation. But it was under Ilkhanid Mongol rule (1256–1353) over Iran that the concept of the illustrated history flourished.
one of the chief authors was the vizier Rashid al-Din (d. 1318), who composed a considerable world history, Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (“Gatherer of Chronicles”). Rashid al-Din incorporated the story of the Mongols into a universal history, with other sections about the ancient kings of preIslamic Iran; India, China, and the “Franks” (Europeans); the prophets and patriarchs from Adam to Muhammad; the Abbasid dynasty (r. 750–1258); and the Turks. Illustrated copies of the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh in Arabic and Persian were distributed from Rashid al-Din’s book workshop near Tabriz. The type and frequency of illustration could enhance and manipulate the political meanings of the history. In the early 1400s, Rashid al-Din’s texts were gathered by the subsequent Timurid ruler Shahrukh (r. 1409–47), son of dynastic founder Timur (d. 1405). Court historian Hafiz Abru continued its history into Timurid times. Shorter histories were also composed, including the Ẓafarnāma (“Book of Conquests”), which narrates Timur’s life. Timurid histories were emulated by later rulers of Iran, including the Safavids (r. 1501–1722), and the Timurids’descendants in India, the Mughals (r. 1526–1857), proclaiming the legitimacy of their own dynasties.
[CHECKLIST noS. 8-12]
POETRY AND ITS FORMS
Epic and romance were the most commonly illustrated types of Persian poetry and were written in masnavī form. Lacking constraints of length, the masnavī was composed of independent and internally rhyming couplets and was ideally suited to poetry with strong narrative content. This partly explains why masnavīs were so frequently accompanied by paintings. one of the most popular was the Khamsa (“Quintet”) by nizami (1141–1209), whose five parts were composed over several decades. The first part consists of anecdotes conveying wisdom, while the other four explore love and the nature of kingship through the rulers Khusraw, Bahram Gur, and Iskandar (Alexander). Amir Khusraw (1253–1325) produced a Khamsa in imitation of nizami’s, but developed new themes and different stories. Compared to the Shāhnāma, illustrated Khamsas typically have fewer but more elaborate paintings that expand to fill the page.
one obstacle to illustration was poetry’s limited narrative content, which explains why some books of poetry contain paintings of generic subjects related to royal activities like hunting and feasting. With developments in the arts of the book over the 1400s, poetry books were provided with ornate borders, text folios made from fine, decorated papers, and calligraphy written in black or colored inks, or even made from cut paper (découpage). Poets occupied a central role in court culture and were regarded as essential to the ruler. Supporting poets, and literary activity generally, secured the patron a good reputation in life and death. Various kinds of books could be made from the poet’s oeuvre, from selections of distinct poetic forms (e.g. quatrain [rubāʿī], love ode [ghazal], elegy [qaṣīda]), to comprehensive collections (dīvān, kullīyāt).
[CHECKLIST noS. 13-16]
RELIGIOUS TEXTS
The 1500s witnessed the growth of illustrated texts on religion and religious themes. They often expressed modes of personal piety and sectarian belief. While objects like certificates recording major (ḥajj) or minor (ʿumra) pilgrimages and talismans (consisting of magic numbers and prayers) made on paper sheets as scrolls continued to be made, new objects of mostly manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish languages also emerged. Such works, illustrated with a gamut of images—narrative paintings, diagrams, charts, and symbolic representations of holy places and things—proliferated in subsequent centuries. These books told the tales of the prophets’ lives, from Adam to Muhammad (Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ); the Prophet Muhammad’s biography (Siyer-i Nabī) and his night journey and ascension (Miʿrājnāma); or they presented the collected aphorisms of ʿAli b. Abi Talib (son-in-law of Muhammad), and the verbal description (ḥilya) of the Prophet Muhammad through calligraphy.
There were also numerous compilations of prayers (duʿānāma)—the most famous of which was al-Jazuli’s Dalāʾil al-khayrāt (“Waymarks of Benefits,” before 1465)— a collection of prayers upon the Prophet—and guidebooks to Mecca and Medina (e.g. Muhyi al-Din Lari’s Futūḥ al-ḥaramayn, “Triumphs of the Two Holy Sanctuaries,” before 1526).
Another class of text was divinatory in nature. Its bestknown example was the Fālnāma (“Book of omens”) attributed to Jaʿfar al-Sadiq (d. 765), sixth Shiʿi imam, and renowned jurist and transmitter of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). Illustrated Fālnāmas were produced throughout the 1500s and 1600s in Safavid and ottoman lands. [CHECKLIST noS. 17-18]
Left: THE BIRTH OF GHAZAN KHAN, folio from a Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (“Gatherer of Chronicles”) or Chingīznāma (“Book of Genghis Khan”), by Rashid al-Din, Painting attributed to Basawan; Commissioned by Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605), Lahore, Pakistan, Mughal period, about 1596, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.12
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THE ALBUM: THE ART OF ASSEMBLY
Albums, or muraqqaʿs, were book-format compendiums of various art forms, including calligraphy, painting, and drawing, arranged in diverse configurations. Some albums consisted exclusively of calligraphy specimens, while others position calligraphy alongside paintings. The practice of assembling albums emerged in the 1400s in Iran, and spread throughout the Islamic lands to Central Asia, India, and Anatolia during the course of the 1500s and after. The literal translation of muraqqaʿ is “that which has been patched together.” It is not only a collection, but implies a process of collecting, cutting, pasting, reformatting, and recontextualizing works of art.
The works in an album were typically organized according to its owner’s taste, and the images were cut down from their original sizes. The modular nature of the album allowed the pictures within it to remain open to reconfiguration and, thus, reinterpretation. over time albums also grew in complexity and required specialized skills. The artworks’ trimming, ruling, illumination, arrangement, and marginal schemes were often works of art in themselves. The artworks preserved and presented in albums spanned contemporary to historical productions, making the album a kind of personal museum.
[CHECKLIST noS. 19-21]
DRAWING
Drawing emerged as an independent art form in the early 1400s and became a crucial component of albums. As loose sheets of artists’ designs, drawings often served as prototypes to be reproduced through the process of pouncing, a stencil-like technique used to transfer an image into a multitude of modes and mediums. With the advent of the album, drawings were used not only as designs and drafts, but also as autonomous works of art.
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The subject matter of drawings relates only distantly to specific written texts. Rather than serving as illustrations to a text, these works were to be appreciated for their technical accomplishment and imaginative properties. Two significant innovations include an undulating line to generate depth, and an increased use of soft washes through a technique called “halfcolored” (nīm rangī). Through technical developments in draftsmanship, artists also pushed the boundaries of standardized types, ranging from epic heroes to religious figures, enchanting beauties, and fantastic forms.
[CHECKLIST noS. 22-25]
NAMING THE ARTIST
Unencumbered by the highly collaborative work of making a luxury manuscript, the album leaf, as an autonomous art form, promoted the emergence of the individual, independent artist in Iran. The increasing practice of signing works accompanied a rise in the production of albums and a broader market for art. A wider variety of patrons from different classes and professions emerged in the second half of the 1500s. Artists of single-leaf paintings and drawings, such as Riza ʿAbbasi, Muʿin Musavvir, and Muhammad Qasim, thrived in the cosmopolitan Safavid capital of Isfahan from the late 1500s to mid-1600s. These patrons represented the social, economic, ethnic, and religious diversity of Isfahan. Isfahan was a melting pot, boasting a diverse populace of Persian, Armenian, Georgian, Turkic, Indian, and European residents.
Another effect of increased access to art included the opportunity to buy single-sheet artworks made speculatively for sale, which led to the expansion of collecting. A new breadth in subject matter reflected the elite urban denizens of 1600s Isfahan, a populace privy to the social spaces of its squares (maydān), marketplaces, mosques, public parks, and coffee houses.
[CHECKLIST noS. 26-27]
Right: WEEPING MAN DRYING HIS EYES, attributed to Shaykh Muhammad, Tabriz, Iran, Safavid period, about 1540, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; drawing; Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.17
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PORTRAITURE
Individualized portraiture also increased with the emergence of the album and new concepts of individual authorship. In fact, there had been a longstanding and deep cultural interest in the science of physiognomy (ʿilm al-firāsa) and its relationship to biography and genealogy. Written histories had long featured biographical profiles of prominent men at the end of individual reign cycles, while specialized biographical works were also composed about famous poets and viziers. In the album, the theme of the individual found expression through the singlesheet painted portrait rendered with attention to unique, characteristic physiognomic features.
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While the practice of making portraits is amply attested in Iran, it reached its fullest development in India under Mughal rule. Mughal albums are replete with painted portraits of courtiers and other members of the elite. They were depicted in a new mode of adapted naturalism inspired by European traditions disseminated to South Asia by a host of travelers, merchants, diplomats, and religious missions from the time of Akbar in the 1500s onward. Akbar’s famed court historian and trusted advisor Abu al-Fazl (1551–1602), noted that the ruler and each of his grandees sat for their likeness, which were then formed into an immense album used to identify persons at court. The portrait in this case was a visual document and served as a record of court proceedings.
[CHECKLIST noS. 28-31]
THE IMAGE OF THE RULER
Under the Mughals, the portrait became a means of expressing both the power and unique identity of the ruler. In these early examples, imperial portraits depicted active rulers engaged in hunting and spectacle. The display of the emperor’s accomplishments echoed the portrayal of heroes from epics such as the Shāhnāma. This was transformed under Akbar’s son, Jahangir (r. 1605–1627) or “world-seizer,” who developed a new image of the ruler. Jahangir’s artists constructed complex visual allegories supported by adapted Christian iconography, such as the appropriated European motif of the halo. The use of the profile further became standardized under Jahangir’s son, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58), who transformed the portrait as
likeness into the portrait as icon. The face of the ruler now became synonymous with power and imperial majesty itself. By the rule of the Mughal emperor Awrangzib (r. 1618–1707), portraiture was so clearly defined that the conventions of royal portraiture—whether in youth or old age—were sufficient to communicate his power. Rajput rulers also employed portraiture as a means of social and cultural exchange with their Mughal neighbors. Artists of the Rajput court developed their own local visual language within portraiture, which undermined the uniformity of the Mughal pictorial system and reflected independent concepts of kingship.
[CHECKLIST noS. 32-35]
WOMEN AT COURT
The depiction of women has historically held a more prominent role in the visual culture of South Asia. This tradition continued at the various regional Rajput courts of western India, such as Bikaner, Jaipur, and Jodhpur. Under Mughal rule in the 1500s and 1600s the Muslim Mughals formed alliances with the Hindu Rajputs through marriage, and assigned Rajput princes roles in their military. Rajput and Mughal paintings alike address the complex lives of women at the court. The imperial harem was not only the arena for entertainment and music, but was also the setting for the important ceremonies of royal marriages, funerals, and religious festivals. The harem housed an internal hierarchy as strict as the male household, and was engaged in all aspects of court life and politics.
Within the Turco-Mongol heritage of the Mughals, powerful matriarchs were the norm and they exercised great power from inside the harem, as well as being avid patrons of the arts. Given the longstanding prominence given to depictions of women in Rajput culture—and its incorporation into Mughal visual culture along with Persianate and European traditions—in addition to the prominence of women at the Mughal court, it comes as no surprise to find a range of female subject matters in albums.
[CHECKLIST noS. 36-39]
HANNAH HYDEN AND DAVID J . ROXBURGH
Right: ASHTA–NAYIKA TAKING SHELTER FROM THE MONSOON WIND AND RAIN, Punjab Hills, India, Mughal period, about 1760–70, watercolor and gold on paper; Gift of Alexander H. Bullock, 1956.3
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DYNA S T lkhanid Mo Timurid, r. Safavid, r. 1 Mughal, r. Outlines repre
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N AS T IES O F TH E IS LA MI C RE G IO N S nid Mongols, r. 1256–1353 urid, r. 1370–1507 vid, r. 1501–1722 hal, r. 1526–1858 es represent greatest extent of each dynastic territory.
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CHECKLIST 1. LAYLI AND MAJNUN AT SCHOOL, from a Yusūf va Zulaykhā (“Joseph and Zulaykha”), by Jami, and Laylī va Majnūn (“Layli and Majnun”), by Maktabi, Copied by Muhammad Hashim Commissioned by Amir ʿAziz Khan Iran, Zand or Qajar period, 1780 Bound volume; watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 19.2 x 12.2 cm. (7 9/16 x 4 51/64 in.) Gift of the American Antiquarian Society, 1945.83
This dainty book combines two love poems by the famous Persian writers Jami (d. 1492) and Maktabi (d. about 1510). For Laylī va Majnūn, Maktabi reworked an earlier version authored by nizami in the late 1100s. Layli and Qays fell in love as children—after their first meeting at school—but were forbidden from continuing their relationship by Layli’s father. As Qays became more lovesick, he grew mad, and earned the epithet Majnūn (“crazy”). The tale ends sadly for both in unfulfilled love and ultimately death. Here, this folio shows the scene of the early days of their love as young students among books, engaged in the acts of reading and writing.
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2. THE HARSH SCHOOLMASTER, folio from a Gulistān (“Rosegarden”), by Saʿdi, Shiraz, Iran, Safavid period, mid-1500s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 18.3 x 12.5 cm. (7 3/16 x 4 15/16 in.) Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.180.1
Composed in 1258, Saʿdi’s work was titled “Rosegarden” to convey the idea that it would preserve wisdom about the human condition for posterity, unlike a garden of flowers which were subject to decay. Arranged in eight chapters, the engaging, amusing, and satirical anecdotes mix prose and poetry to explore themes about love, youth, old age, education, and good conduct. The story illustrated here concerns a teacher whose “severity…is better than the love of a father.” Replaced briefly by a lenient teacher whose approach prompted students to misbehave and neglect their studies, the harsh schoolmaster regained his job. Here, obedient boys and girls read from books and practice writing.
3. BAHRAM GUR HUNTING ONAGERS, folio from the Great Mongol Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”), by Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi, Attributed to the patronage of Abu Saʿid (r. 1316– 35), Tabriz, Iran, Ilkhanid period, about 1330 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 60 x 40.5 cm. (23 5/8 x 15 15/16 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.24
Fifty-eight illustrated folios from this Shāhnāma survive today. The full scope of the original manuscript is unknown. Based on the painting and calligraphy, its production has been attributed to the reign of Abu Saʿid. The elaborate paintings, which blend Persian and Chinese artistic traditions, offer complex pictorial responses to Firdawsi’s narrative. In this scene the king, Bahram Gur, dressed in fine clothes, a jeweled crown, and pearl earring, hunts onagers (wild ass) with bow and arrow. The onagers are earmarked with gold rings and branded with the king’s mark. Gnarled trees, craggy rocks, and clouds evidence the impact of Chinese art. 4. RELIEF WITH A RAM, 400s to 500s Iran, Sasanian period Stucco, 28 x 26 x 8.3 cm. (11 x 10 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.) Museum Purchase, 1938.102
Stucco decoration, often naturalistic in style, decorated the palaces of Sasanian kings (r. 224–651) built across Iran, especially in the southern province of Fars. This panel depicts a ram (ibex) wearing a collar with a fluttering ribbon (pativ, Middle Persian), a symbol of royal glory and prosperity. Such visual symbols appear on a variety of Sasanian palace decoration and rock reliefs, as well as on portable objects like metalwork and textiles. Sasanian royal images and symbols were transmitted into Islamic art and architecture by complex networks of exchange and access over lands and centuries.
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5. KAY KHUSRAW GIVING HIS TESTAMENT, folio from the “Big-Head” Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”), by Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi, Copied by Salik b. Saʿid Made for Sultan ʿAli Mirza Lahijan, Gilan, Iran, 1494, Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 34.6 x 24.2 cm. (13 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.23
The illustrated Shāhnāma as a genre declined in the late 1400s, with this remarkable exception, nicknamed for the large size of the figures’ heads in many of the images. This lavish, heavily illustrated copy was made in the province of Gilan on the Caspian Sea for a ruler named Sultan ʿAli Mirza. The paintings are saturated with rich primary and secondary colors and detailed patterning applied to textiles and landscape elements. The original manuscript is now divided in two volumes in Istanbul, with other folios dispersed from them. 6. SAʿD VAQQAS KILLS RUSTAM, folio from a Shāhnāma (“Book of Kings”), by Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi, Commissioned for the vizier Qivam al-Dawla wa al-Din Hasan, Shiraz, Iran, Inju period, 1341 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 36.1 x 29.3 cm. (14 7/32 x 11 17/32 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.21
Illustrated Shāhnāmas were also produced in southern Iran under the Inju dynasty (r. about 1325–53). Based in Shiraz, the Inju initially governed the Ilkhanid royal estates, but became increasingly independent in the 1330s. Though lacking the breadth of color and technical finesse of metropolitan Ilkhanid manuscripts, Inju-period paintings are characterized by bold compositions and lively drawing, with a narrow palette dominated by reds, yellows, ochres, blues, and greys. This painting illustrates a scene from the reign of Yazdgird, the last king of pre-Islamic Iran in Firdawsi’s epic: Yazdgird’s general Rustam loses his fight against Saʿd Vaqqas, who led the forces of the Arab caliph.
7. THE KILLING OF THE CAMEL, folio from a Kalīla wa Dimna (“Kalila and Dimna”), by Abu al-Maʿali nasr Allah ibn Munshi, Shiraz, Iran, Inju period, 1333 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 32.9 x 21 cm. (12 61/64 x 8 17/64 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.27
While the Shāhnāma was valued in its age as a work of history, it was also related to didactic texts that treated morals and ethics in philosophical and practical ways. one example is nasr Allah’s Kalīla wa Dimna, a Persian translation and adaptation of Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ’s Arabic version. named after its two chief protagonists—the jackals Kalila and Dimna—the nested stories tell tales of deceit and intrigue, mostly enacted by animals, that provided models for conduct and statecraft. In this story, the wolf, jackal, and crow plot against the camel. The camel eventually falls prey to the lion king and his treacherous advisers. 8. AMBASSADORS OF THE MAMLUK SULTAN AL-NASIR FARAJ B. BARQUQ PRESENT THEIR GIFTS OF TRIBUTE TO TIMUR IN SEPTEMBER 1404, folio from a Ẓafarnāma (“Book of Conquests”), by Sharaf al-Din ʿAli Yazdi, Commissioned by Ibrahim Sultan (d. 1435) Shiraz, Iran, Timurid period, before 1435 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 33.6 x 24.5 cm. (13 15/64 x 9 41/64 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.26
In this work recounting the life of Timur (d. 1405), Yazdi reworked an earlier version of the nomadic warlord’s biography. Ibrahim Sultan, a Timurid prince, governor of Fars, and grandson of Timur, commissioned the new version. Folios from the dispersed manuscript reveal that the illustrations were organized as doublepage paintings. The one paired with this painting portrays Timur enthroned. After journeying from Cairo to Samarqand, the envoys gifted Timur a giraffe. In illustrating this text, stories were selected to depict events from Timur’s life, but also emphasized the role of Ibrahim’s father, Shahrukh.
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9. AN INDIAN EMBASSY BEFORE SULTAN MAHMUD OF GHAZNA, folio from a Majmaʿ al-tawārīkh (“Assembly of Histories”), by Hafiz Abru, Probably commissioned by Shahrukh (r. 1409–47), Herat, Afghanistan, Timurid period, about 1427 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 43 x 33.7 cm. (16 59/64 x 13 17/64 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.20
Hafiz Abru produced several official histories for the Timurid ruler Shahrukh, building on the legacy of Ilkhanid writings. “Assembly of Histories” was a four-part universal history up to 1427, with the fourth section a reworking and expansion of Shami’s Ẓafarnāma dedicated to Shahrukh’s son, Baysunghur. In several histories made for Shahrukh’s library, the composition of the text page and its relation to the painting mimic patterns developed in Ilkhanid manuscripts, such as Rashid al-Din’s Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (“Gatherer of Chronicles”). The chief difference between this Timurid painting and its Mongol models lies in the use of a full polychrome palette and painted background.
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10. SHAH ISMA ʿIL DEFEATING AMIR HUSAYN AND MURAD BEG, folio from the Tārīkh-i ʿālamārāy-i Shāh Ismāʿīl (“The World Adorning History of Shah Ismaʿil”), Painting by Muʿin Musavvir or a follower, Isfahan, Iran, Safavid period, about 1688 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; painting: 17.8 x 15.2 cm. (7 x 6 in.) Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.179
Produced as a biography of Shah Ismaʿil (r. 1501–24)—founder of the Safavid dynasty, this work differed from earlier Safavid examples by abandoning a strict chronological sequence and by embracing legendary events and the fantastical traits ascribed to Ismaʿil. Anonymous histories like this one—of which there were several from the mid-1670s onward—reflect the oral tradition of popular storytelling. Laden with ideological values, the stories promoted Ismaʿil’s superhuman qualities and legendary destiny.
11. THE BIRTH OF GHAZAN KHAN, folio from a Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (“Gatherer of Chronicles”) or Chingīznāma (“Book of Genghis Khan”), by Rashid al-Din, Painting attributed to Basawan, Commissioned by Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556– 1605), Lahore, Pakistan, Mughal period, about 1596 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 37.9 x 24.3 cm. (14 15/16 x 9 9/16 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.12
This history commissioned by Akbar appears to reproduce the world history authored by Rashid al-Din (d. 1318) in Tabriz. Most of the extant folios come from the first part of the text, which traced the history of Genghis Khan and his successors. This image depicts the birth of Ghazan Khan (r. 1295–1304), seventh ruler of the Ilkhanid dynasty. Ghazan was the first Ilkhanid ruler to adopt Islam. The scene inhabits the whole page with little space leftover for text, which appears in two small boxes. As the birth unfolds, musicians prepare their instruments, courtiers assemble food, and astrologers make calculations for a book of nativity. 12. SCENE OF A BATTLE LED BY AL-HASAN B. SAHL, GOVERNOR OF THE ABBASID CALIPH ALMA ʾMUN, folio from a Tārīkh-i alfī (“History of the Millennium”), by multiple authors, Commissioned by Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) Lahore, Pakistan, Mughal period, 1592–94 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 47.6 x 24.8 cm. (18 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.) Alexander H. Bullock Fund, 1985.315
Written between 1582 and 1594, the “History of the Millennium” commemorated the 1,000th year of the Islamic hijri lunar calendar (which began in 622 AD). This was to be a new history of the Islamic world, authored by seven scholars, beginning in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad and free from tales that were fantastic or strained belief. This folio, like the majority of known examples, relates to Islam’s early period during the Abbasid caliphate, and creates a complex interrelation between text and image. Painting inhabits the marginal space, appearing both as border and background simultaneously.
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13. SULTAN SANJAR AND THE OLD WOMAN, AND TEXT PAGE FROM A KHAMSA (“QUINTET”), by nizami, Baghdad, Shiraz, or Tabriz, Iraq or Iran, Turkmen period, about 1450s– 1460s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper;
painting: 8.2 x 8.7 cm. (3 ¼ x 3 7/16 in.) Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.184.1–2
The first of five books making up nizami’s Khamsa is the Makhzan al-asrār (“Treasury of Secrets”), which was named for its contents: a sequence of anecdotes relating moral and religious values. In this tale, the Seljuq Sultan Sanjar (d. 1157) is approached by an old woman who complains of ill-treatment at the hands of the ruler’s police. Her scolding extends to the ruler himself for his immorality and tyranny, with the warning that his rule, if uncorrected, will end prematurely. nizami’s worldview reflected a political model in which the just ruler’s commitment to his subjects’ well-being—across social classes—would create a thriving economy and political stability. 14. THE FATE OF THE SHEPHERD WHO DILUTED MILK, folio from a Khamsa (“Quintet”), by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, Tabriz, Iran, Safavid period, about 1500–1525 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; painting: 15.7 x 12.4 cm. (6 3/16 x 4 7/8 in.) Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.181
This story occurs in the first part of Amir Khusraw’s Khamsa, titled Maṭlaʿ alanwār (“Rising of the Luminaries”), which he completed in 1298–99 and wrote in emulation of nizami’s Makhzan al-asrār. Comprising twenty moralizing anecdotes, the masnavī poem follows nizami in its meter, format, and structure. This narrative tells the tale of a dishonest shepherd who diluted his goats’ milk with water to increase sales at market. one day, a torrent of floodwater washed away his flock. A wise man pointed out the irony: the water that the shepherd mixed with his goats’ milk was the cause of the goats’ demise and the shepherd’s loss of wealth.
15. TEXT PAGES AND DECORATED BORDERS, double folio from a Dīvān (“Poetry Collection”), by Shahi, Tabriz, Iran, Safavid period, 1600s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; bifolio: 30 x 17.7 cm. (11 13/16 x 6 15/16 in.) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Karl L. Briel, 1986.190
Even unillustrated collections of literary works could be embellished by beautiful calligraphy, finely made paper, and ornamental margins. on this bifolium, exquisite cursive nastaʿlīq script is copied in black and gold inks on smooth gold-sprinkled paper. Internal rulings inscribed around the text create a text field (matn) and margin (ḥashīya), while the enclosing border is a pink paper painted in gold that depicts a landscape inhabited by real and fantastic animals. The poet “Shahi”—Amir Shahi Sabzavari— was active in the early 1400s and was in the retinue of Timurid prince Baysunghur (d. 1433). 16. HUNTING SCENE, folio from a Dīvān (“Poetry Collection”), by Mir ʿAli Shir navaʾi, Qazvin, Iran, Safavid period, about 1575–1600 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 31.5 x 19.5 cm. (12 3/8 x 7 11/16 in.) Museum Purchase, 1917.186
Mir ʿAli Shir (1441–1501), writing under the pen-name “navaʾi,” was among the foremost patrons of art, architecture, and literature in Herat, Afghanistan, during the reign of the Timurid Sultan Husayn (r. 1469–1506). An avid patron and critic of literature, navaʾi also composed works in Persian and Chaghatay, the latter a Turkic language which he championed. Dīvāns were illustrated despite the non-narrative nature of many of the poetic forms they included. This lively painting of a royal hunt may have been inspired by direct references to hunting in the poem or, in a more abstract vein, by a spectrum of metaphors.
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17. THE PROPHET ZAKARIYYA IN A TREE, folio from a Fālnāma (“Book of omens”), by Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, Commissioned by Shah Tahmasp Qazvin, Iran, Safavid dynasty, mid 1550s–early 1560s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 59.4 x 44.8 cm. (23 3/8 x 17 5/8 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.16
This Fālnāma, now dispersed, features monumental folios and developed narrative paintings which focus on such subjects as the prophets, the righteous, evildoers, and eschatology. As a divinatory book (bibliomancy) used to tell fortunes and forecast the future, each folio paired a painting with a text of prose and poetry. After the user turned to a page at random, the image and text were interpreted. In the tale depicted here, the prophet Zakariyya hides inside a tree trunk, but the hem of his cloak remained visible on the exterior. The devil Iblis betrayed Zakariyya, and Iblis’s forces saw the tree open and kill the prophet.
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19. TWO WOMEN ON A BALCONY WATCHING YOUNG MEN IN THE COURTYARD BELOW, Uzbekistan, Bukhara, possibly Shaybanid dynasty, 1500s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 18.6 x 10.8 cm. (7 5/16 x 4 1/4 in.) Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.183
Two women gesture in amazement as they gaze on the royal festivities taking place in the courtyard below. Finely executed manuscript paintings, produced to accompany poetic and historical works, were often repurposed in albums, to be appreciated independently from their original narrative. The assembly of an album often included the addition of ornate margins to enhance the central image. Later trimmed and remounted by a Safavid or Mughal collector, the piece was set amidst golden floral scrollwork that gave visual continuity to a diverse album. 20. CHAINED DROMEDARY, Iran, Safavid period, late 1500s to early 1600s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; drawing: 11.7 x 10.8 cm. (4 5/8 x 4 1/4 in.) Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.185
18. THE ASCENSION OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD, folio from a Khamsa (“Quintet”) of nizami, 1550s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 28.2 x 17.7 cm. (11 1/8 x 7 in.) Shiraz (?), Iran, Safavid dynasty Museum Purchase, 1918.17
The subject of the Prophet Muhammad’s “night journey” (isrāʾ) from Mecca to Jerusalem and “ascension” (miʿrāj) from Jerusalem through the seven heavens to the throne of God, paradise, and hell were frequently illustrated in books. The fullest illustrated cycles appeared in works devoted to the ascension, but other images—usually single ones—depicting either the isrāʾ or miʿrāj occurred in prefaces to literary works in which God and the Prophet Muhammad are being praised. one such work is nizami’s Khamsa. In this painting, the Prophet Muhammad wears a face veil and green robe, and is mounted on the miraculous hybrid steed Buraq. The Prophet Muhammad and Buraq are enclosed by a golden radiance of light, while the nighttime sky is populated by angels who fly among golden clouds.
PoETRY:
Without a doubt, you are the fifth prince / the world of Khusraw beneath the seven skies. The world over which you command so many cities / the pillar of your door is the essence of support (the garden of Iram).
All night the moon which circles the celestial sphere / increases the oil of your lamp.
By the justice of the King I have hope, that he may look into this story a little.
Camels were frequently illustrated in Persian manuscripts and evolved into a common subject of drawing in the Safavid period. The addition of text in the margin enabled the album compiler to personalize a familiar prototype. The verses are excerpts from a eulogistic dedication to King nasrat al-Din (r. 1191–1210) from the Khamsa (“Quintet”) of nizami, and were likely cut directly from a ruled manuscript page and set in this diagonal arrangement. Poetic verses added to single-page pictures often related to the image they complemented. In this case, the poem may instead provide insights into the unknown owner of the album page, employing the words of nizami to speak to the owner’s noble status.
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21. YOKED PRISONER, Iran, Safavid period, about 1550–1600 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 30.9 x 19.9 cm. (12 11/64 x 7 53/64 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.9
Among the most popular subjects in Safavid painting, the Turkmen prisoner is fettered in a palahang, a device made of a forked stick of wood. Though a common type in Safavid art, the prisoner’s red pointed beard, furrowed lines around his eyes, and rosy pursed lips suggest an individual. While it may seem somewhat contradictory for a prisoner to be equipped with weapons, the dagger and riding crop display his ferocity as a powerful adversary even after his capture. Beautifully ornamented triangular corners of gold and lapis lazuli have been added as a layer on top of the painted page. This configuration draws the viewer’s attention toward the figure set against a soft white background that presents a visual, if not specifically spatial, depth. 22. TWO DERVISHES, late 1590s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 28.6 x 19.1 cm. (11 1/4 x 7 1/2 in.) Isfahan, Iran, Safavid period Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.11
The artist, likely a follower of the versatile artist Muhammad Qasim—active 15891659—uses a limited palette of pale washes, accenting the black line with subtle pops of color to portray a tranquil picture of two dervishes sitting in the wilderness. Here, visual interest is supplied by a dynamic thinning and thickening line and the delicate and specific placement of color, which demonstrates the artist’s masterful use of the nīm rangī technique. Texture is created in the modeling of the tree and its loosely drawn leaves, heavy folds that compose the drapery of the robes, and fine stippling of the beards of the two ascetics. These innovations in technique epitomize the development of drawing as an end in itself.
23. HERO WRESTLING A DEMON, Deccan, India, Mughal period, about 1750–1800 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 30 x 22 cm. (11 13/16 x 8 11/16 in.) Gift from the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, 2002.331
Without any explicit reference to its narrative origins, this folio clearly invokes the visual language of the epic battle between the hero Rustam and the demon king White Div (dīv-i sipīd) from Firdawsi’s Shāhnāma. It is the most regularly illustrated event from the Shāhnāma. Geographically and temporally distant from the illustrated manuscripts of the Shāhnāma, this drawing maintains the hero’s prominent beard and golden helmet, though it lacks much of the traditional costume associated with Rustam, such as his snow leopard-skull helmet and tiger-skin torso armor. Hints of white color confirm the demon’s identification as the White Div. This drawing is a fine example of the afterlife of narrative illustration, as later artists transformed models from the manuscript tradition into exquisite individual studies. 24. COMPOSITE HORSE LED BY A DEMON, Qazvin, Iran, Safavid period, about 1550–1600 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 22.4 x 34.7 cm. (8 13/16 x 13 21/32 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.18
This early example of the popular genre of composite imagery shows a horse made up of animals, humans, and fantastic beasts. The ferocious demon leads the steed, which is composed of clever combinations of whispering lovers, sleeping dervishes, ladies playing instruments, and animals hunting, to name but a few. Texture and pattern created through contrasting fur, skin, scales, and cloth highlight the graphic power of drawing. It is hardly surprising that composite images, which make a game of the viewer’s scrutiny, would flourish during the advent of the single-page artwork. Many examples of composite animals exist within painting. Here, the choice of drawing makes the artist’s task all the more challenging as the minute creatures must remain distinct while also blending into the whole.
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25. PERFORMERS AND ANIMALS AT AN IMPROMPTU CIRCUS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, India, Mughal period, about 1590 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 25.1 x 17.2 cm. (9 7/8 x 6 3/4 in.) Islamic Rug Fund, 1989.110
This novel depiction of performers draws on the work of Mughal artists such as Miskin (active about 1580–1604). In his densely packed scenes of often crowded audiences and hoards of diverse beasts, Miskin elevated to new heights the technique of “half-pen” (nīm qalām), where drawing was combined with modulated washes of color. The center of the image is occupied by a monkey riding a blackbuck, an antelope native to India. The blackbuck—identified by its spiraled horns and two-toned white and black coloring—is often depicted in hunting scenes in Mughal miniature painting. It also holds various significant associations in Hindu mythology, being deemed as sacred in Hinduism. The format of the single-leaf drawing allows for the expression of such experimental and stimulating compositions.
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26. WOMAN WITH A GOLD PURSE, Riza ʿAbbasi, Isfahan, Iran, Safavid period, about 1600 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; painting: 16.3 x 9 cm. (6 27/64 x 3 35/64 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.25 Inscribed: “drawing of the humble Riza-yi ʿAbbasi” (raqm-i kamtarīn Riẓā-yi ʿAbbāsī).
The artistic climate of Isfahan in the reign of Shah ʿAbbas I (r. 1588–1629) was reflected in the lively royal workshop headed by the master painter and draftsman Riza ʿAbbasi. Riza revolutionized Persianate painting and drawing, inventing new approaches to the calligraphic line and color palette. This painting exemplifies Riza’s style, characterized by an undulating, expressive line, sensitivity to features, hair, and drapery, and complimented by muted colors set against a sparsely decorated background. The red line used in this instance to outline the drapery of the elegant woman anticipates a technique developed in later works by the artist. Paintings of women were drawn from stylized types, yet the style of dress and dainty purse of the figure likely speaks to women’s domestic costume in cosmopolitan Isfahan.
27. A CUP BEARER, Muhammad Qasim, Isfahan, Iran, Safavid period, about 1630-1650 Watercolor pigment and ink on paper; folio: 37.5 x 25.5 cm. (14 49/64 x 10 3/64 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.14 Inscribed: “Work of Muhammad Qasim, year 952 (1545)” (ʿamal-i Muḥammad Qāsim 952)
The standing youth type is one of the most common themes of Muhammad Qasim’s individual drawings, often set outdoors in a profusion of knotted branches and bursts of swaying vegetation. The artist was among the most prolific and versatile of his time. Though often interpreted as a mere convention, the subjects of these single-sheet images reflected the visual vocabulary of the educated urban elite. The flask and wine cup accord with poetic representations of wine, typically associated with intoxication and abandon of both the mystical and the worldly. The inscription found on the flask, which supplies a date of 1545, does not coincide with Muhammad Qasim’s period of activity from around 1589 to 1659, and was most likely added at a later date as an attribution to its artist. 28. WEEPING MAN DRYING HIS EYES, attributed to Shaykh Muhammad Tabriz, Iran, Safavid period, about 1540 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; drawing: 11.9 x 5.3 cm. (4 11/16 x 2 1/16 in.) Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.17
In a very early example of Persian portraiture, the sorrowful man casts his head downward to wipe his tears, while his other hand grasps his sash. Unlike the stylized types found in contemporary manuscript illustrations, the emotive and individualized quality of the figure’s expression is created through a careful rendering of his furrowed brow, closed eyes, and shrugging posture. The sense of movement suggested by his lifted foot and swaying coat is emphasized by a varying thickness in the ink line. This remarkable portrait is tightly cropped and cuts off the top of the man’s turban, which could suggest that this was not completed as a work intended for an album.
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29. PORTRAIT, POSSIBLY OF MOTA RAJA, UDAI SINGH OF MARWAR, early 1600s Watercolor and gold on paper; painting: 12.9 x 7.4 cm. (5 1/16 x 2 15/16 in.) India, Mughal period Gift of Alexander H. Bullock, 1957.7
Portraiture initiated in the royal workshop of Akbar was primarily concerned with accuracy and identification, rather than conveying the emotional or inner experience of the pictured individual. Udai Singh of Marwar (d. 1595) was the ruler of the Indian Rajput kingdom of Marwar and a figure present at the Mughal court. Widely known by the sobriquet Mota Raja, or “the fat king,” the prodigious girth of the Raja is portrayed in this portrait. The painting minimizes Udai Singh’s Rajput ancestry by dressing him in Mughal clothing, though one trace of Rajput custom is the smaller turban, and setting him against a standardized background. The figure is thus visually integrated into the Mughal record as one element in a larger system, eliding the competitive sentiments of the Mughal-Rajput relationship. 30. PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN, India, Mughal period, about 1630–40 Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; painting: 14.2 x 23.7 cm. (5 9/16 x 9 5/16 in.) Bequest of Charles B. Cohn in memory of Stuart P. Anderson, 1985.143
A world apart from the opulent portraits of the emperors crowded with symbols of authority, courtier portraits visually reinforced the hierarchy at court through formalized codes of individual depiction. The nobleman wears a white coat (jama), an ornately decorated sash (patka), and a sword hanging by three straps from his prominent red waist-belt. He stands against an unpainted backdrop, set in a series of gold-flecked and florid margins typical of an album portrait of the early 1600s. Following conventions established in the time of Akbar, the nobleman’s face is cast in full profile, his torso in three-quarter view, and both feet visible with hands holding an object, in this case a flower.
31. PORTRAIT OF A STANDING MAN, India, Mughal period, 1700s Watercolor, ink, gold, and possibly silver on paper; folio: 37.5 x 26.6 cm. (14 3/4 x 10 1/2 in.) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Karl L. Briel in memory of David H.P. Magill, 1970.126
This striking portrait of a nobleman holding a flower features a stark and vast white space offset by the gentleman’s delicately rendered face. This softness of color contrasts with the textures produced by the gold—found in the figure’s turban, the trim of his coat, and sword—and silver, which has darkened to grey from oxidization. Ground eggshell was commonly used to create the sparkling gold flakes found in the man’s turban. The reflective effect in the jewels on his belt could be created by painting over a layer of iridescent gold paint in a grey-blue hue. 32. PRINCE ON HORSEBACK HUNTING A LION, India, Mughal period, 1650–1700 Watercolor and gold on paper, mounted on a later Indian paper; folio: 25 x 22.5 cm. (9 13/16 x 8 7/8 in.) Islamic Rug Fund and Stoddard Acquisition Fund, 1991.34
A Mughal prince gallops towards a raging lion, lancing the beast in a triumphant act of valor. This artwork is very unlike the static standing portraits set against a solid background that dominate Mughal court portraiture during the 1600s, recalling a more active mode of self-fashioning preferred by the emperor Akbar a century earlier. The height of regal power and heroism was displayed in the hunt, the activity most associated with royal strength from the time of pre-Islamic Iran. The hunt long remained a meaningful demonstration of imperial legitimacy, reaffirming that the ruler enjoyed divine favor.
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33. PORTRAIT OF AWRANGZIB, OR POSSIBLY DARA SHIKOH (D. 1659), BROTHER OF AWRANGZIB, India, Mughal period, 1600s Watercolor and gold on paper; folio: 33.7 x 21.5 cm. (13 1/4 x 8 7/16 in.) Bequest of Charles B. Cohn in memory of Stuart P. Anderson, 1985.133
Awrangzib, the third son of Shah Jahan, expanded the Mughal empire to its largest extent, ruling over the vast majority of the Indian subcontinent. He was known for his strict adherence to Sunni orthodoxy, reinstating the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects (dhimma). Here, his devotion is represented in his upward gaze, recognizing the higher authority of the divine. He also holds a fly whisk (chawrī), alluding to his role as a servant of both God and his people. Awrangzib is often described as disengaged from artistic patronage, though this portrait demonstrates his concern to ensure that his portrayal by workshop artists enhanced his status and image as emperor.
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34. PORTRAIT OF AWRANGZIB IN OLD AGE, India, Mughal period, 1700s Watercolor and gold on paper; painting: 23.8 x 16.7 cm. (9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in.) Museum Purchase, 1926.5
In old age, the austere and frail emperor stands, with back hunched as he leans on his staff, in a sober and plain costume that contrasts with the colorful and opulent portraits of his youth. Awrangzib’s portrayal is unlike that of his father, Shah Jahan, whose full-profile portrait became an icon that remained largely unchanged even into his old age. The portrait of Awrangzib instead reflects the passage of time in his long and tumultuous reign. Despite his aged physique, the golden halo of the ruler demonstrates the continued practice of royal portraiture as an expression of the semi-divine status of the Mughal emperor. He holds a rosary as a mark of faith.
35.ʿALI ʿADIL SHAH II, about 1670 Golconda, Deccan, India, Mughal period Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; folio: 37 x 25.6 cm. (14 9/16 x 10 1/16 in.) Gift of Alexander H. Bullock, 1958.42
Mughal-style portraits were favored in the 1600s by rulers who held close ties to the empire. But for those who saw the Mughals as their adversaries and competitors, such as ʿAli ʿAdil Shah II, the eighth sultan of the ʿAdil Shah dynasty of Bijapur, a distinct, local tradition of royal self-fashioning was maintained into the late 1600s. This extremely large portrait of the sultan employs a brilliant gold background and elaborate floral compositions, typical of Golconda painting, to offset the naturalistic facial features and standard pose of the ruler with a flower, inspired by Mughal royal portraiture. 36. CONVERSATION BETWEEN A MAN AND WOMAN, folio from the Ṭūṭīnāma (“Tales of a Parrot”) by Ziyaʾ al-Din nakhshabi, Lahore, Pakistan, Mughal period, about 1580 Watercolor and gold on paper; mounted on a later album page; folio: 29.8 x 19.1 cm. (11 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.) Islamic Rug Fund, 1991.33
This miniature from a copy of the Ṭūṭīnāma (“Tales of a Parrot”)—most of which is now found in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin—has been ruled and margined for the album. An ornate heading in an eastern Kufic script, which reads “Layli and Majnun,” was likely cut from a manuscript of nizami’s tale of the two lovers and reused because of its superb quality. The Ṭūṭīnāma is a collection of moralizing fables compiled by Sufi and physician Ziyaʾ al-Din nakhshabi in 1300s Iran. Two illustrated manuscripts of this text were commissioned by the emperor Akbar early in his reign. The text consists of fifty-two stories told by a parrot to his mistress Khojasta to keep her at home and prevent her from an adulterous affair.
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37. SOHNI CROSSING A RIVER AT NIGHT TO MEET MAHINVAL, Lucknow, India, Mughal period, about 1770 Watercolor and gold on paper; painting: 30.2 x 19.5 cm. (11 7/8 x 7 11/16 in.) Gift of Alexander H. Bullock, 1953.80
Each night, Sohni crosses the river to meet her love, a buffalo herder Mahinval, who lives on the opposite bank. Their secret is discovered by her outraged brothers, who replace the clay pot she uses to float across the river with one of unbaked clay. Depicted here is the tragic fate of Sohni, who drowns while crossing the river as Mahinval sits awaiting his love’s return. Sohni’s longing for her beloved served as a metaphor for a soul’s quest for the divine. The oral folktale also cautioned women of the Lucknow court against illicit love. 38. ASHTA–NAYIKA TAKING SHELTER FROM THE MONSOON WIND AND RAIN, Punjab Hills, India, Mughal period, about 1760–70 Watercolor and gold on paper; painting: 16.5 x 12.1 cm. (6 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.) Gift of Alexander H. Bullock, 1956.3
39. A GIRL BEING LIFTED BY A PRINCE FROM THE HAREM TO AN UPPER CHAMBER, Possibly Abu al-Hasan, Agra, India, Mughal period, about 1610 Watercolor and gold on paper, mounted on an album page of the 1700s; painting: 14 x 8.5 cm. (5 1/2 x 3 1/3 in.) Islamic Rug Fund, 1989.111 Inscription in border: “An imagination of Hasan” (khiyāl-i Ḥasan)
An inscription on the upper border of the painting states that this is “an imagination of Hasan,” likely referring to the Mughal painter Abu al-Hasan, Jahangir’s most esteemed artist. Customarily, the artist’s name, if acknowledged at all, would be noted in the margins by court librarians or clerks. The large swaths of solid, dark space might cast doubt on this attribution. However, the delicately rendered facial expressions and gestures, coupled with the finely executed landscape paintings on the walls of the upper chamber and lower wall panel behind the suspended girl, help to confirm the inscription. The playful scene shows the harem as a space that is simultaneously private and permeable.
Ashta-nayika is the collective name for the eight types of heroines (nayikas) in the Sanskrit treatise of the Natya Shastra (“Precepts on Performance,” about 200 BCE–200 CE) by an ancient Indian theatrologist and musicologist Bharata Muni. Depictions of nayikas from Indian literature were popular themes in Rajput painting, particularly in situations relating to lovers. The woman ventures out into the storm, disregarding all the dangers of the night and the tempest, eager to meet her beloved. These romantic vignettes, appreciated by women at court, employed graphically striking colors to enhance the emotive scene.
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ACKNOWLEDGE MENTS We are very grateful to Vivian Li, Associate Curator of Asian Art and Global Contemporary Art at the Worcester Art Museum, for her invitation to curate this show from the Museum’s important collection of Persian and Mughal manuscript and album folios. We also are deeply appreciative of the strong support of Matthias Waschek, C. Jean and Myles McDonough Director; Jon L. Seydl, former Director of Curatorial Affairs; and Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Interim Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Arms and Armor and Medieval Art. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Mahroo and Barry Morgan for their steadfast support from the beginning and sharing our enthusiasm for the collection.
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Thank you to the staff at the Museum who have played various roles in the realization of the exhibition: Patrick Brown, Exhibition Designer and Chief Preparator; Trevor Toney, Lead Preparator; Anne Greene, Matter/Framer; John Hyden, Mountmaker; Wes Small, Preparator; Gareth Salway, Director of Museum Services; Sarah Gillis, Associate Registrar for Collection Documentation; Steve Briggs, Photographer; Eliza Spaulding, Paper Conservator; Paula Artal-Isbrand, objects Conservator; Margaret Justus, former Curatorial Assistant; Marcia Lagerwey, Director and Senior Curator of Education and Experience; neal Bourbeau, Education Programming Coordinator; Elizabeth Buck, Manager of Studio Class Programs; Megan Blomgren Burgess, former Public Events Coordinator; Martha Chiarchiaro, Docent Program Manager; Carina Ruiz-Esparza, Education Coordinator; Julieane K. Frost, Senior Marketing Manager; Cynthia M. Allegrezza, Coordinator of Marketing, Communications + Design; and Richard Albion, Web Designer. Patrick D. Wilks, Lear Curatorial Fellow, developed the wonderful educational curriculum guide for this exhibition in partnership with local educators Batul Juma (volunteer through EnjoinGood) and Brian Leonard. Lastly, we express our heartfelt thanks to Kim noonan, Graphic Design & Publications Manager, for carefully designing and overseeing the production of this beautiful catalogue.
HANNAH HYDEN AND DAVID J . ROXBURGH
Right: THE PROPHET ZAKARIYYA IN A TREE, folio from a Fālnāma (“Book of omens”), by Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, Commissioned by Shah Tahmasp Qazvin, Iran, Safavid dynasty, mid 1550s–early 1560s, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1935.16
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This publication has been made possible by a gift from Mahroo Morgan, a dedicated friend of the Museum and its Collection of Islamic Art. PRESERVED PAGES: BOOK AS ART IN PERSIA AND INDIA, 1300–1800
has been made possible by a gift from Barry, Mitra, and Tav Morgan in honor of Mahroo Morgan.
Inside Cover: TEXT PAGES AND DECORATED BORDERS, double folio from a Dīvān (“Poetry Collection”), by Shahi, Tabriz, Iran, Safavid period, 1600s, watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Karl L. Briel, 1986.190
Back Cover: THE HARSH SCHOOLMASTER, folio from a Gulistān (“Rosegarden”), by Saʿdi, Shiraz, Iran, Safavid period, mid-1500s Watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Bequest of Alexander H. Bullock, 1962.180.1
WORCESTER ART MUSEUM