Lying between deserts, mountain chains and seas, Iran developed a fascinating cultural landscape. Exquisite works of art from the time of the first advanced civilisations during the third millennium BCE until the early eighteenth century illustrate the outstanding significance of Iran as an initiator and centre of intercultural exchange. The great pre-Islamic empires of the Achaemenids and the Sasanians, the establishment of a Persian-Islamic culture, the supreme artistic achievements of the ninth to the fifteenth centuries and the Golden Age of the Safavids are just some of the highlights of this journey in time through the cultural heritage of Iran.
Author(s): Ute Franke (ed.), Ina Sarikhani (ed.), Stefan Weber (ed.)
Publisher: Hirmer
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 396
Tags: Persian art, Iran
Cover
Contents
Greeting
Prelude
Iran – Five millennia of art and culture
Information on the catalogue
I. Iran – A land between East and West
II. First cities, early empires
Elam – An old culture at the dawn of Iran’s history
III. The era of petty kingdoms – Rivalries and alliances
The Luristan bronzes
Ziwiye – A mysterious hoard
Hasanlu – A lost city
Marlik – A ʻroyal cemetery’ near the Caspian Sea
IV. The Achaemeneid empire
The kings Cyrus II and Darius I
The first world empire in history – Conquest and organisation
The administration of a world empire – The infrastructure
Linguistic diversity and a lingua franca
Savoir-vivre – The elite
Religion
Persepolis
ʻArtaxerxes, the Great King… says:’
An Achaemenid elephant goad
In the saddle – The Persians as warriors and hunters
Jewellery for protection and prestige
ʻIn vino veritas’ – Carousing Persians
ʻHorses… equipped most spendidly’
V. The Parthian and Sasanian empires
The Parthian empire
Not all that glitters is gold – Fire-gilding
A ʻGreek’ bowl from Nihavand in Iran?
Bright and clear – New glassmaking techniques
Polytheim in the Parthian empire
The Sasanian empire
Sasanian royal and elite images
Statue of a ʻsaint’ from the church in Veh Ardashir
Sasanian courtly tableware
Head of a fierce lion
Two Sasanian silver-gilt plates with scenes of a hunt
The Indian goddess Hariti on a lion throne with other celestial beings
The art of glassmaking in the Sasanian empire
Sasanian coinage
Sasanian seal stones
Scripts in the Persian empire
VI. The Arab conquest of Iran
Arabic script before calligraphy
Calligraphy – The discovery of the curve
Artistic inspirations and innovation
The art of glassmaking from the eighth to the thirteenth century
VII. The Iranian revival – From the late ninth to the early eleventh century
Silver – Culture of the urban elites and economic driving force
Urban elites along the Silk Road
Aesthetic self-determination in the eastern Abbasid caliphate
VIII. The age of the Saljuqs
Silk robe with birds in medallions
Masterful images – Damascened metalwork
ʻSaljuq’ art?
IX. The arrival of the Mongols – Genghis Khan and his heirs
Gold brocade silk lampas
Enlightenment through illumination
The earliest manuscripts of Firdausi’s Shahnama
Mongol Iran – Ceramics and China
X. The Timurids – Conquest, decline an cultural flowering
The well-balanced curve in illumination and calligraphy
The illustration of classical Persian literature – Love and devotion
The illustration of classical Persian literature – Faith and morality
Qisas al-Anbiya (ʻStories of the prophets’)
Two cenotaph posts decorated with inscriptions
The ’Chinese look’ – The invention of Persian blue-and-white
XI. The Safavid era – A sense of place
Capital cities, elite patronage and centres of artistic production
The illustration of classical Persian literature – Shahnama and history
Arms and armour of the Safavids
Silk textiles with figural motifs
Young men reading in the garden
Sleeveless overgarment of silk brocade with floral pattern
Three silk tomb coverings
The illumination of Safavid religious texts
The give and take – Animal combat in a Safavid carpet fragment
The Sarre Vase Carpet from Kerman
Textile fragment with boat scene
Wall hangings with garen idyll
On non-illustrative Persian paintings and those who painted them
Safavid tableware
Isfahan – The image of an extraordinary world
List of exhibits
