Miniature Painting in the East

MINIATURE PAINTING IN THE EAST The beginnings of miniature painting in the Mohammedan East are obscure, in consequence of the various forces of destruction that have laid in ruins so many of the centres of Muslim culture, as well as the hostile attitude of the theologians towards all forms of representational art, and the fanaticism that sought to destroy the work of the artist. Two or three drawings on Arabic papyri of the loth century, now in the collection of the archduke Rainer in Vienna, show that Coptic influence was operative from an early period in the Mohammedan era ; but examples are not forthcom ing as evidence of any further development in Egypt.

Persia.

In Mesopotamia, however, in the 13th century begins a series of miniature paintings, illustrating the Maqamat of Hariri and such animal stories as those of Kalila and Dimna ; a comparison with contemporary miniatures in the service books of the Jacobite and Nestorian Churches suggests that the painters were either themselves Christians or were carrying on the tradition of oriental Christian art, in the service of Muslim employers. Influences of another kind are observable in the illustrations of a ms. (dated A.H. 7 10 = A.D. 1310-11) of the history of the world, by the famous minister of State, Rashid ud-Din (d. A.D. 1318), made by his painters in Tabriz; the talented author appears to have provided not only Christian but also Chinese and Indian pictures for the guidance of his painters in their representations of the various historical incidents of successive ages. From this period onwards Persia continued to produce the finest examples of Mohammedan painting. Chinese influences were, it is true, prominent under the rule of the Mongol conquerors, and por traits of them occur (e.g., in such a ms. as Supplement persan 1113 in the Bibliotheque Nationale) ; but native Persian genius began to re-assert itself in the reign of Tim& (1369-1404) and under his immediate successors, and freed itself from all such Chinese influences, except certain conventional forms of repre sentation, such as clouds, etc. Several portraits of Tim& are

extant, and his sons and grandsons, who divided his empire among themselves, were distinguished for an even more generous patron age of artists. But the art of painting in Persia is entirely anony mous until the reign of the last of the Timurid princes, Sultan tlusayn Mirza, who reigned in Harat from 1468 to 1505. The most famous painter in the annals of Persian art, Bihzad, during the earlier part of his career worked under the patronage of this prince, and more than one portrait of his patron is attributed to him. Later, Bihzad enjoyed the favour of Shah 'small, the founder of the Safavid dynasty in 1502, and for about a century a succession of painters of extraordinary talent were actively employed in the service of the earlier monarchs of this dynasty. Their work has survived mainly in manuscripts of Persian poetry, which they were called upon to illustrate, and masters, such as Mirak, Muzaffar 'Ali, Qasim 'Ali and Sultan Muhammad, carried on in a brilliant manner the traditions of the school of Bihzad. Shah 'Abbas (1587-1629) followed the practice of his forefathers in employing a number of court-painters, who worked in the royal atelier, but though their names have been recorded, it is difficult to assign to them, with any degree of certainty, the pictures that have survived from this period. Only a very few paintings bear the signature of any of these court-painters, with the important exception of Riza `Abbasi, who was a prolific artist, and not only had the habit of signing his pictures, but in many instances also wrote out long inscriptions giving the exact date and the circum stances under which the pictures were made ; he was a master in the art of portraiture, and his miniatures have preserved a record of Shah `Abbas, his patron, and of a considerable number of his contemporaries. A portrait of the master himself, who died in April 1635, is extant, copied 4o years later by an enthusiastic admirer, named Mu'in Musavvir, who called himself his pupil.