This absolute height of artistry: The Court of Gayumars, from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, fol. 20v, attributed to Sultan Muhammad and his workshop, Tabriz, 1522, 47 x 32 cm, opaque watercolor, ink, gold, silver on paper, folio 20v. Safavid culture. Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (AKM165).<\/p>\n
In this folio, we can see parallels between the painting and the content of the calligraphic text of the poem at the top of the page written in nastaliq script. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the sun reached the lamb constellation, when the world became glorious, When the sun shined from the lamb constellation to rejuvenate the living beings entirely, It was then when Gayumars became the King of the World. He first built his residence in the mountains. His prosperity and his palace rose from the mountains, and he and his people wore leopard pelts. Cultivation began from him, and the garments and food were ample and fresh.” The text was completed before the paintings. When the paintings were finished, illuminators contributed to the overall sumptuousness of the manuscript by adorning the borders, chapter headings, and text frames with gold. The finished gilded pages were burnished with a smooth, hard stone such as agate or rock crystal to give them a polished effectOnce all the pages had gone through this elaborate process, they were brought to a binding specialist who sewed and bound the leaves and attached a decorated leather or lacquer cover to the spine. Finally, the completed book was placed in a jeweled container and presented to the patron.<\/p>\n
“Meant to be lovingly contemplated.”<\/p>\n
Court of Gayumars: “Meant to be lovingly contemplated.” Detail of the Court of Gayumars” by Sultan Muhammad. Painting fom the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, fol. 20v. Tabriz, 1522, 47 x 32 cm, opaque watercolor, ink, gold, silver on paper, folio 20v. Safavid culture. Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (AKM165).<\/p>\n
Contemporary sources tell us that Sultan Muhammad worked on this painting for more than 3 years. Perched on cliffs beside the King are his son, Siyamak (left, standing), and grandson Hushang (right, seated). Onlookers peer out from the scraggly, blossoming branches onto King Gayumars from the upper left and right. The miniature\u2019s spatial composition is organized on a vertical axis with the mountain behind the king in the distance, and the garden below in the foreground. <\/p>\n
Gayumars was an immortal king, but ultimately decided to give that up for the sake of human society. In a manuscript dedicated to the next generation of rulers, it shows how to behave, how to become a good ruler, and celebrate justice. <\/p>\n
There are multiple points of perspective, and perhaps even multiple moments in time, rendering a scene dense with details meant to absorb and enchant the viewer. The swirling blue-gray clouds floating overhead recall Chinese art and Safavid artists often incorporated visual motifs and techniques inspired by Chinese sources.<\/p>\n
Sources: Unit 5: chapter 3 The Making of a Persian Royal Manuscript: The Shahnama
(Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp. Courtly Splendor in the Islamic World. Metmuseum.org. (p. 143). https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/learn\/educators\/curriculum-resources\/art-of-the-islamic-world\/~\/media\/Files\/Learn\/ForEducators\/PublicationsforEducators\/IslamicTeacherResource\/Unit5.pdf<\/p>\n
Dr. Filiz \u00c7akir Phillip, Curator, Aga Khan Museum and Dr. Steven Zucker. Paradise in miniature, The Court of Kayumars \u2014 part 2. https:\/\/youtu.be\/LL1upwFTGDQ<\/p>\n
For the comparison part:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This absolute height of artistry: The Court of Gayumars, from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, fol. 20v, attributed to Sultan Muhammad and his workshop, Tabriz, 1522, 47 x 32 cm, opaque watercolor, ink, gold, silver on paper, folio 20v. Safavid culture. Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (AKM165). In this folio, we can see parallels between the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-88998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-paper-writing","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}