A concise history of Iranian miniature

Summary

The Persian miniature, i.e. painting in a fine and small-scale manner, is rich in traditions and has a long and historical path of evolution. This art, originated from the painting of books, developed to a visualisation of poetry, experienced distinct styles through different epochs and finally became one of the greatest schools of miniature in Asia.

Today, the Iranian miniature is regarded as a significant and distinct art style. It has left traces in the art history of Iran, Asia and the world.

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Origin of the Iranian miniature

The starting point of the Persian miniature is close to the emergence of Islam, although there have been discoveries of paintings on walls in Persia dating from 5,000 years ago. At the beginning of the Islamic period (7^th century), Iranian painters began to adorn books. In order to make books more comprehensive and pleasant, they later added explanatory illustrations to the books.

Such a visualisation of poetry and literature by the miniature still play a major role within Iranian art today. Thus the history of the Iranian miniature is closely related to that of Iranian literature. The emergence of the great works of literature and poetry from the 10^th century on favoured the further evolution of the miniature:

	In the 10th century, Ferdowsi created his mythological work "Shah-nameh" (Book of Kings)
	In the 12th century, the poet Nezami wrote his "Khamseh" (five epic poems)
	In the 13th century, it was Saadi, who was the most important poet in that era and author of the famous poetry "Bustan" and "Golestan" (Orchard and Rose garden, rhymed prose)
	In the 14th century, Hafez, the most famous Iranian poets created his Divan (a collection of poems).

Literature delivered the diverse subjects for miniature painting while the adaptation of Chinese design was essential for the evolution of the miniature style. The Chinese painting was promoted by the Mongolian rulers of Iran in the 13^th century. Iranian artists acquired the Chinese genre of painting, in particular the use of watercolour, and evolved the art of book illustration. The outcome of this artistic shift was the actual beginning of the Iranian art of miniature. The most ancient miniatures date from the 13^th century. Today, a number of hand written books of that era exist – they are mainly enriched with animal figures, illustrations of fables or fairy tales.

After the end of the Mongolian rule, the Teimoorian period began in the 14^th century and the art of miniature made a considerable progress during this era.

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Emergence of the miniature schools

Stimulated through the enormous works of literature and promoted by the respective rulers, several miniature schools emerged between the 13^th and 16^th centuries. Each of these had its own style. The Iranian painting achieved its impressive development through these schools. The most important miniature schools were in Tabriz, Herat and later Esfahan.

The Tabriz School of Art was founded at the end of the 13^th century. The illustrations of the early Tabriz School were influenced by Armeno-Byzantine art due to the proximity to Armenia. And yet, the Chinese style was recognisable in the paintings.

Until the 15^th century the artistic centre of Iran remained in Tabriz. In the 16^th century, when Esfahan became the capital of Iran, the school moved there and the Safavid Art School was subsequently also established in this city (Ref.: Miniature in the era of Safavide).

The Herat Art School was established in the 15^th century by the Teimoorian rulers. The Painting of figures and portraits characterised the Herat School. In these miniatures, the faces were more accurate.

The greatest master from the Herat School was Kamal Ad-din Behzad (1450-1536). His paintings were distinguished through his elegant style and lively colours; he also found a new style of portraying. The subject of his paintings was not only the illustration of literature. He painted rather ordinary people in their daily lives.

Another famous painter originally belonging to the Herat School was Zaman Khan, who later founded his own school. Light colours and calm line movements are typical of Zaman Khan's style. His art school later became known as the Indo-Persian School of Painting, due to his emigration to India, where the Indo-Persian style is widely spread.

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Miniature in the era of Safavid

At the beginning of the 16^th century the Safavid dynasty came to power. In the Safavid epoch, the Iranian miniature distanced itself from the influence of the Chinese and took a new path of development. According to most art experts, the miniature painting reached a peak during this period, both in quality and quantity.

Shah Abbas I, himself a painter, paid special attention to the miniature. He assembled the most eminent miniature masters. In his era, Iran was in its cultural prime. The art of design prospered and the miniature works became more sophisticated. The miniature themes centred around events in the royal court, the aristocratic class, beautiful palaces and, last but not least, hunting scenes. The style was subtler than those of the previous schools. Thus miniatures were not only painted for embellishment and the illustration of books.

Initiator of the Safavide School of Painting was Reza Abbasi (1610-1640), the leader of those artists assembled by Shah Abbas. Reza Abbasi was a pioneer in well-structured and finely measured miniatures. In his paintings the genius sketched, like Kamal Ad-din Behzad, not only conventional subjects such as hunting scenes, but also ordinary people. In his pictures, human images were not depicted as extremely beautiful, but more natural and thus closer to reality. Reza Abbasi is still today the most celebrated Iranian master of miniature art.

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Post-Safavid miniature

In the 18^th century, when Iran was occupied by Afghans and afterwards divided, the art of miniature lost favour. The subjects of miniature became more limited. In the rare works of that period, conventional love scenes and portraits are predominant. Some imitations of European paintings can also be observed. At the end of the 18^th century, there were also miniatures of flowers and birds.

From the close of the 18^th to the early 20^th century, the Qajar dynasty ruled Iran. Painters of the Qajar period were inspired both by the Safavid miniature style and the European arts. In spite of a quite different technique, the Qajar miniatures are also reminiscent of sculptures from the Achaemenids and Sassinids (pre-Islamic epochs).

The most eminent painter of this period was Mohammad Qaffari. The then King of Persia gave him the title "Kamal-ol-Molk"(1847-1940). Kamal-ol-Molk adapted the style of some European artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Further more, the master devoted a major part of his life to promoting art and culture. He established the Kamal-ol-Molk Art School in Tehran in order to revive the Iranian fine arts such as miniature and to educate new talented scholars.

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Contemporary miniature

Even though the Iranian painting was influenced by the new scope set up by Kamal-ol-Molk, the contemporary art of miniature moved in another direction. Promoted by the Madrasseh Aali Honarhaye Irani (Academy of Iranian Arts), miniaturists first found a route back to the Herat and later to the Safavid style:

In spite of using innovative techniques and adding to the miniature new elements such as light and shadows, the pictures are rather similar to those of Reza Abbasi's period. The themes are once again the nobles, palaces, polo and scenes of banquets etc.
Among the great masters of the Neo-Herat/Neo-Safavid School, are particularly Hadi Tajvidi, Ali Motie and Mohammad Mossaver-ol-Molk. Another important contemporary artist within this group, but with rather different subjects in his miniatures, is Mahmoud Farshchian. All these painters use new methods of composition and perspective.

Hossein Behzad (1894-1968), who introduced a new technique of miniature painting, enjoys an exceptional position among the contemporary miniaturists. The artist first made replicas of the works of great masters of traditional miniature, particularly of Kamal Ad-din Behzad and Reza Abbasi. The rules used in the Herat and Safavide schools are apparent in his early works.

In his later creations, Behzad tends towards the Zaman Khan School (Ref above Emergence of the miniature schools): Based on the Indo-Persian style, he invented a new technique in combining sketch and colour as the primary elements of his painting. In these miniatures, the master consequently suffices with a few faces in one picture. Contrary to the traditional miniatures, Behzad used colours in a sparing manner. A number of works with only a single figure and single colour contributes to this unique style.

Like Behzad and other miniaturists, Ali Karimi (1913-1997) experimented first with the traditional miniatures of the Herat, Safavid as well as Qajar eras. However, he went beyond these subjects of fabulous stories and nobles images. Inspired by Reza Abbasi and Kamal Ad-din Behzad, who introduced miniatures of the common people, Karimi turned to a new direction in his mature artistic period:

The daily lives of ordinary people, as well as his own fantasies, were from now on the themes of his painting. Without leaving the classical style of miniature, the artist developed a new genre of contemporary painting (Ref: Style). An eminent Iranian art historian wrote about Karimi: "Once the contemporary history of miniature is written, Karimi's contribution to its fundamental change will be major, creative and durable"(*).

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* Homayoun Aliabadi, "Mabda' va Mabda Miniature Moaser", Origin and Creator of the Contemporary Miniature in: Abrar Journal, Tehran, August 12 1997, page 8

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