Commissioned by Prince Sultan Ibrahim Mirza in 1556, five Iranian court calligraphers devoted nine years to transcribing the poetic text of the great Persian classic, the Haft awrang (Seven Thrones), by the mystical poet Abdul-Rahman Jami. Then a team of gifted artists undertook the illumination and illustration of the manuscript. The masterpiece they created—housed today in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and known as the Freer Jami—is a sumptuous volume of some three hundred folios of elegant cursive script with richly decorated margins, thousands of multicolored section dividers, nine illuminated headings and nine colophons that begin and end the main divisions of the text, and twenty-nine full-scale paintings. This gorgeous book reproduces to scale the Freer Jami paintings, discusses each in detail, and introduces the manuscript’s patron and the artist’s painting style and meaning.
Marianna Shreve Simpson describes the cultural and artistic milieu in which Sultan Ibrahim Mirza’s great manuscript was created and explores the special style and imagery of the illustrations. She then considers the poetic content and mystical significance of the related passages, how the paintings interpret the passages, and the unique and innovative aspects of each painting. In the themes and images of the paintings, Simpson finds, are clues to the message of the manuscript as a whole. This book also includes a timeline of milestones in the prince’s life and in the production of his Haft awrang.
Copublished with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Author(s): Marianna Shreve Simpson
Publisher: Yale University Press
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 80
Tags: persian poetry, Persian painting,
Foreword by Milo Cleveland Beach 7 Preface
PART I. PERSIAN POETRY, PAINTING & PATRONAGE: SULTAN IBRAHIM MIRZa's Hajtawrang
PART 2. ILLUSTRATIONS IN SULTAN IBRAHIM MIRZa's Hajt awrang
The Wise Old Man Chides a Foolish Youth (folio i oa)
A Depraved Man Commits Bestiality and Is Berated by Satan (folio 30a)
The Simple Peasant Entreats the Salesman Not to Sell His Wonderful Donkey (folio 38b) A Father Advises His Son about Love (folio 52a)
Tlic Dervish Picks Up His Beloved's Hairfrom the Hammam Floor (folio 59a) Bandits Attack the Caravan ofAynie and Ria (folio 64b)
The Aziz and Zulaykha Enter the Capital of Egypt and the Egyptians Come Out to Greet Them (folio loob) Yusuf Is Rescuedfront the Well (folio 105a)
Yusuj Tends His Flocks (folio 1 1 ob)
Yusuf Preaches to Zulaykha 's Maidens in Her Garden (folio 1 14b)
Tlie Infant Witness Testifies to Yusuf's Innocence (folio 120a)
Yusuf Gives a Royal Bampiet hi Honor of His Marriage (folio 1 32a)
The Gnostic Has a Vision of Angels Carrying Trays of Light to the Poet Sa'^di (folio 147a) The Pir Rejects the Ducks Brought as Presents by the Murid (folio 153b)
The Fickle Old Lover Is Knocked off the Rooftop (folio 162a) TheArabBeratesHisGuestsforAttemptingtoPayHimjorHisHospitality(folio169b) The Townsman Robs the Villager's Orchard (folio 179b)
Solomon and Bilqis Sit Together and Converse Frankly (folio 1 88a) Salaman and Absal Repose on the Happy Isle (folio 1 94b) TheMuridKissesthePir's Feet(folio207b)
The Flight of the Tortoise {folio 21 $h)
The East Ajrican Looks at Himself in the Mirror (folio 221 b) Qciys First Glimpses Layli (folio 23 la)
Majnun Approaches the Camp of Layli's Caravan (folio 25 3a) Majnun Comes befne Layli Disguised as a Sheep (folio 264a) The Mi'^raj of the Prophet (folio 275a)
Khusraw Parviz and Sliirin Deal with the Fishmonger (folio 29 1 a) Iskandar Suffers a Nosebleed and Is Laid Down to Rest (folio 298a)
Chronology Bibliography Index
