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| Fol i o 245r from an i l l ustrated manuscri pt of the Ni gāri stān of A$mad i bn Mu$ammad Ghaffārī Shi raz, I ran; dated 980 H/1573 CE Opaque watercol our, i nk and gol d on paper Manuscri pt: 38. 7 x 24. 9 x 6.4 cm AKM 272 Publ : A. Wel ch 1978b, p. 79 (not i l l .); AKTC 2010b, p. 303 (bi ndi ng onl y; no. 131) |
The present volume of the Nigaristan – a collection of stories about figures from the early history of Islam – is remarkable for both the quantity and the quality of its fortyfour miniatures and fine illuminations.
Other Safavid illustrated versions of the text are known but the present text, with its beautiful original lacquer binding with leather dou- blures, stands as an exemplar of luxury illustrated manu- script production in Shiraz.
This tradition of book-making reached something of a peak in the 1580s: a large body of top-level work was produced in imitation of courtly models, much of which found its way into royal circles, and this book represents an art in the ascendant.
The relatively unusual setting of a mosque interior is
depicted here largely without specific architectural signifiers,
with
the
obvious
exception
of
the
minbar,
on
which
the
holy
man
sits
to
deliver
his
message
to
the
crowd.
The
young
prince seated at centre stage on his prayer rug,
and the assembled courtiers in rich robes some of them
wearing the red qizilbash in their turbans as proclamations
of their Safavid Shi'i identity cover their mouths with
their sleeves out of respect, to avoid polluting the sacred
space with their breath.
The minbar, seat of spiritual authority
and
community
leadership
from
the
early
Islamic
period
onwards
following
a
precedent
set
by
the
Prophet
Muhammad,
is
normally
positioned
against
the
qibla
wall
to
the
right
of
the
mihrab.
If
one
were
to
follow
the
logic
of
the
image’s
spatial
arrangement,
this
would
suggest
the
mihrab
to
be
located
directly
in
front
of
the
prince,
hidden
from
our view
by the minbar.
A small number of extant tiled minbars from Iran are known, and one of the most spectacular is that of the Masjid-i maydan in Kashan. Dated by Bernard O’Kane to c. 1468 – approximately one century before this painting was created – the Kashan tiled minbar is decorated on its sides with a star-and-polygon pattern, and has an arch-shaped void in the lower bottom section.
The presence of the framed floral panel, like a small door, in the same position on the minbar in this painting suggests that the artist may have had a similar model in mind. However, a closer parallel for the simple geometric tiling of this painted image of a minbar can be seen in the later tiled minbar of the Masjid-i jami in Kuhpaya, Iran, dated 1528–1529.
Book Reference :
Architecture in Islamic Arts Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum by Margaret S. Graves, Benoît Junod, Gérard Friedli
https://www.academia.edu/7471091/Treasures_of_the_Aga_Khan_Museum_Architecture_in_Islamic_arts
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