Persian painting is above all the art of the illustrated book. For centuries, royal workshops produced manuscripts of poems and histories, in which text, decoration and picture were made together by teams of calligraphers, painters, gilders and binders. The paintings are small, often only a few centimetres across, which is why they are called miniatures, although scholars sometimes prefer the broader term “book painting”.
How the pictures work
A typical scene does not use a single point of view. Space is built up in layers: a flat expanse of colour, a tilted ground, buildings seen from the side and from above at the same time. Figures are drawn with a fine line, and colour is bright and clear, made from ground minerals and plant dyes, with gold and silver. Details such as tiles, plants and textiles are painted with extraordinary care.
Scholars debate how far the flattened, patterned look reflects a different idea of what a painting should do: to show an ideal order and the meaning of a story rather than the appearance of one moment.
Places and painters
In the 15th century, Herat, under the Timurids, was a centre of the art, and its best-known painter was Behzad. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Safavid court workshops in Tabriz and then Isfahan developed their own style. Later painters such as Reza Abbasi made single-page works of figures and portraits, which collectors mounted in albums.
The Shahnameh
The Shahnameh, the “Book of Kings”, completed by the poet Ferdowsi around 1010 CE, tells the history of Iran from legend to the Arab conquest. Its stories of heroes, kings and monsters give painters many scenes, including the hero Rostam fighting the White Div, the sad story of Sohrab, and the doomed prince Siavash. Illustrated copies were made over centuries for rulers and wealthy patrons.
One of the most famous is a large royal copy made for the Safavid shah Tahmasp in the 16th century, with many paintings by leading artists. The book was later taken apart and its pages sold, so its pictures are now in several museums and private collections.
Many of the most famous Persian paintings now belong to museums outside Iran, where they have been catalogued and published. Where we show a work, we credit the museum and give its licence.
Looking
Look for how the painter tells the story: which moment is chosen, where the main figures stand, how the writing in the page fits around the picture. Many paintings contain small scenes in the background, such as a groom with horses, a gardener or a bird in a tree, that are easy to miss.
Notes and sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, entry 'Miniature' (iranicaonline.org). Exact entry title and author to be added after the entry is opened.
- Dick Davis (trans.), Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Penguin, 2006).
- Museum catalogue entries for the folios named in the article: cite the museum records when checked.
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