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ARTISTS

Persian Painting

Until the 20th century very little was known of Persian painting. Scholars are still endeavoring to reconstruct more fully the history of the art. The various destructive conquests of Persia, the perishable media of painting, and the Mohammedan sentiment against the representation of the human figure lost for us the earlier products of artists who were notable for their discernment, their taste in accepting foreign influences, and their ability to maintain a national artistic tradition.

The earliest extant examples of Persian painting are to be found in the fragmentary mural decorations of the palaces of the Sassanian kings, who held power from the 3rd to the 7th century A.D. These murals are primarily illustrations of episodes from the lives of ancient Persian monarchs. Military expeditions, hunting scenes and feats of prowess, such as those of the early hero Bahram Gor, and many romantic adventures were repeated for the education as well as the entertainment of their observers. These figural scenes were drawn against gold, red, white, or yellow backgrounds in a linear composition in which the main objective was understandability. The interest was centered in man and his activities rather than in nature and her beauties, and landscapes served purely as a stage setting for the exploits of the great.

Umayyad-Abbasid Periods: 8th through 10th Century. In the 7th century the Arab conquest of Iran introduced the Mohammedan religion, which brought with it a sentiment against the delineation of the human figure and all other animal forms. Because of this prohibition artists were forced from all work which came under the influence of the theologians. They found patronage in the service of various rulers and nobles, for whom they did portraits and illustrated books. These illustrations proved an outlet for the Iranian tradition of painting, which then necessarily took a miniature form. However, a certain amount of mural painting adorned baths and palaces, as we have learned from discoveries like those in Nishapur, in eastern Iran. Wall paintings found here show a carry-over of the Sassanian traditions, such as the portrayal of favorite hunting scenes. Some of them show the new Islamic influence, which confines the decoration of the walls to compositions of scrolls, palmettes, and arabesques.

However, the most rewarding means of artistic expression was provided by the illustration of manuscripts. It was during this period that two of the greatest epics of Persian literature were composed. The Shah-Nameh (q.v.), or Book of Kings, was written by Firdausi in about 1010 A.D. It is a long epic which relates the legendary history of Persia from the beginning of time to the Arab conquest in the 7th century. It long remained the chief source from which the Persians derived their ideas of the ancient history of their nation. The other great romantic epic poem which has provided subjects for artists almost down to the present century is the Khamsa (Five Treasures), written by Nizami. It contains five separate books, some telling romantic stories such as the tale of Khosrau and Shirin or of Laila and Majnun, or tales of valor like the Iskandar-Nameh, which features the exploits of Alexander the Great.

Seljuk Period: 12th-13th Century

Although we know that manuscript illustration was practiced before the period of the Seljuk Turks (r.llth-13th century), no miniature paintings survive from the earlier period. However, from the decorative painting on contemporary pottery, much of which has been excavated at Rayy, we are able to gather the elements of the style. Certainly a quite sophisticated technique was developing, and of course with it a similar technical skill.

In the early manuscripts of the Seljuk period the illustrations were usually drawn on the page itself, but as the art advanced the illustration was almost always painted independently and then pasted on the page containing the written text. Only mineral colors were used by the artists, since they produced an opaque, gemlike color which was desirable. The minerals were finely ground and then mixed with an adhesive medium-in the early periods with albumen but later with glue or gum arabic. The pigments were applied to paper which had been sized either with white of egg or with starch. After this the paper was dried and then rubbed with mother-of-pearl until the surface took on a high polish. Gold leaf was also very commonly used. The general effect achieved by the miniature artist was one of great richness. A very fine brush was used to apply the pigments, the hairs said to have been cut from a white kitten's throat and inserted in the end of a quill. These brushes were so delicately tapered that often only one hair made up the point.

The Persian painters' style was two-dimensional, following the early Sassanian tradition. No attempt was made to create the illusion of atmosphere, light, and shade. Landscape painting still was not pursued as an art in itself, and the old Sassanian interest in man was still uppermost. The problem of perspective was not solved, as in Western art. If the artist wished one figure to appear to be farther away than another, he placed the nearer one in the foreground and raised the farther one above it, at the same time raising the horizon. As a result the observer feels that he is standing on an elevation looking down upon the scene. The most important figure was usually placed in the center of the composition, and by gesture and attitude the action was conveyed.

Mongol School: Late 13th and 14th Century

In 1258 Persia was invaded from the east by the Mongols. The conquering 11-khans established Baghdad as their winter residence, and hither, as well as to Tabriz, came all the court artists. The earliest dated miniatures are from this period. The Mongol conquerors naturally had great admiration for Chinese culture and art, and as a result the Iranian artists were considerably influenced in the same direction. For the first time Persian painters began to take an interest in landscape and also to make an attempt at shading. In fact, in many miniatures showing landscapes the artist imitated the Chinese monochrome ink paintings of the Sung and Yuan dynasties. The accent is on the mastery of a calligraphic line. The size of the' miniatures was also changed at this time. Perhaps because the paintings had to be more inclusive, they also had to be larger. But the artists still clung to their traditional symmetric arrangements of figures and composition and their use of aerial perspective.

Timurid School: 15th Century

In 1386 Timur, or Tamerlane, the successor of the Mongol rulers, conquered Tabriz. Baghdad fell in 1401. Timur was a great patron of the arts and an avid collector. We know from old literary sources that he took native artists from Baghdad to Samarkand, where they were commissioned to decorate his palace. But he also greatly admired Chinese art, and was so influenced by it 'that he collected albums of Persian paintings, just as the Chinese collected theirs. Unfortunately, we know of no manuscript which can be attributed to an artist working in Samarkand at this time. We have manuscripts which were -produced in Shiraz and Baghdad during Timur's reign and which show the style of painting developed under his patronage.

Two schools of painting were outstanding in the 15th century, those of Herat and of Shiraz. Timur's son Shah Rukh (1404-1447), established Herat as his residence and there employed many artists to produce illustrations for the books in his famous library. The Herat school fostered the most famous artist in Persian history and evolved a highly characteristic style of painting. The romantic poems of Nizami and Sadi were favorites at this time, and the style developed was well suited to them. The figures were usually painted on a much smaller scale than those of the Mongol period and were placed in a decorative landscape rather than in a naturalistic one. The horizon was very high, and the delineation of the mountains showed none of the previously favored Chinese formulas. The Herat school is really the foundation of the national Iranian style of painting.

Shiraz, the residence of Shah Rukh's son UlugBeg, was also a center of painting. Here again the Mongolian characteristics of style assumed by the earlier miniature painters were abandoned in favor of the Iranian tradition. The palette of the painter was rich with brilliant colors. At the same time artists were working in the city of Tabriz. Their paintings, however, were not so vivid as other contemporary works, and the figures had a static character. The palette used soft, deep colors.

The master of the Herat school was Kamal ad Din Bihzad (c.1440-1524), who flourished under the patronage of the Sultan Husain Mirza (1468-1506). Bihzad became the most famous Persian painter of his time. According to one contemporary historian, he "sets before us the marvelous forms and rarities of his art; his craftsmanship, which is like the brush of Mani, has caused the memorials of all the painters of the world to be obliterated, and his fingers, endowed with miraculous qualities, have wiped out the pictures of all the artists among the sons of Adam. A hair of his brush, through its mastery, has given life to the lifeless form." Indeed he was recognized as a master during his lifetime, and although very few authentic works bearing his signature are still preserved, his fame is undimmed. He is credited with the introduction of new forms and new techniques in painting, and is particularly famous for his delineation of facial expression. His miniatures show an individual treatment of each figure, his landscapes a fine use of color which approaches a three-dimensional effect, and his compositions are masterpieces. His style set Persian painting on a path of naturalism.

About 1510, when Herat was conquered by the Safawid ruler Shah Ismail (1501-1524), Bihzad, at the height of his activities, moved to Tabriz and there established another school of painting in western Persia under the patronage of the shah, who in 1522 appointed Bihzad director of the royal library. Perhaps his most famous pupil was Kasim All, who was noted for his painting of faces. He was a close collaborator of Bihzad. Probably many of the illustrations attributed to the master are actually the products of this pupil. However, Kasim Ali used lighter colors than Bihzad, blues, greens, and greys predominating.

Safawid School: 16th Century

In the new Safawid Dynasty, founded at the beginning of the 16th century, a school of painting which took its name from the ruling family developed in the traditions of Bihzad at Tabriz. After Bihzad's departure from Herat his pupils there followed in the traditions which he had taught them, but most of the miniature paintings were produced in the capital city of Tabriz. Indeed, in the late 16th century Herat ceased to be the center of painting.

Persian painting at this period reached its height of elegance and refinement. An increased interest in portraits and single pictures developed. Bihzad's most famous successor was Sultan Muhammad, who was painting master for the Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524-1576). His paintings show his ability in caricature as well as in painting, and many of his subjects are treated with humor. There is great elegance in his design, which is executed in a delicate, skillful technique. All of the miniatures reflect the great elegance and sophistication of the court. Sultan Muhammad and other artists did many of the newly popular portraits, some of them of the shah himself.

Ustad Muhammadi, probably the son of Sultan Muhammad, was one of the outstanding painters of the second half of the 16th century. He specialized in line drawings either without color or with delicate tinting. His figures were elongated, his landscapes realistic, and genre subjects he loved to depict. Other artists of the Safawid school in Tabriz and Shiraz continued working in the latter part of the 16th century in the earlier traditions, but a lack of originality and a decline in quality of technique is evident.

Abbas I the Great (r. 1587-1629) established his court at Isfahan. He was a great patron of the arts and built in his capital city many fine palaces and mosques. There he also established an academy of painting, where he greatly encouraged the development of court artists. Two of the most famous painters to work at the court were Riza-i'Abbasi, the outstanding court painter and calligrapher (1587-1628), and his pupil Mu'In, who worked between 1628 and 1707. The master Riza-i-'Abbasi produced many large miniatures and paintings. His portraits are particularly handsome and close to life, rendered with a firm line developed by his calligraphic training. His style was copied through the second half of the 17th century and the 18th, but unfortunately his followers lacked the talent of the master and the painting tradition was greatly weakened. The interest in Western art shown by the last Safawid rulers, who even imported Dutch painters to decorate their palace walls, perhaps contributed to the deterioration. Unfortunately in the 18th and 19th centuries-with a few exceptions, such as some fine bird and flower paintings-very little really great work was produced.