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‫العدد ‪2014 ,38‬‬
The Journal of Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah Issue 38
Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah The journal Hadeeth ad-Dar of the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) is published quarterly.
National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters The articles, views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy of Dar al-Athar
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About the journal
Contents
02 17 January 2012
Power and Protection: Late Ottoman Seal Designs
Christiane Gruber

07 3 December, 2012
Islamic Gardens As Depicted In Carpets
Dr. Samir Rebeiz

12 19 March 2012
Selseleh: Artistic Lineages in Persian Painting
Layla Diba

18 26 March 2012
Sculpture in Islamic Iran
Parviz Tanavoli

25 28 May 2012
Crossing Boundaries: Islamic Dream Sciences, Dante
and Romance Literature
Valerio Cappozzo

30 5 November 2012 (GET HEADSHOT FROM FATMA BU ABASS)

The Power of Art: Views from the Modern Middle East
Venetia Porter

This publication is sponsored in part by:

LNS 4969 J and LNS 4970 J

Two gold masks from composite sculptures
Fabricated from gold sheet
Western Iran, late 7th to early 6th century BCE
Height 8 cm; width 10.5 cm (LNS 4969 J)
Height 6.5 cm; width 8.2 cm (LNS 4970 J)

Hadeeth ad-Dar 1 Volume 38

 Power and Protection:
Late Ottoman Seal Designs

Christiane Gruber
Presented in English
17 January 2012

Seals and seal stamps have had a long and rich history in Islamic cultural and
artistic traditions. For many centuries, they have been produced in metal, stone,
and other materials. They have been considered powerful because of two distinct
but related factors: first, because they are used to impress an imperial mark, and,
second, because they function as amulets. As a mark of power and rulership, the
seal joins the ranks of the royal emblems of the crown and throne (J. Deny and
V. Porter). Moreover, the seal often functions like an amulet or talisman and
therefore carries the potential to protect and cure. In the latter case, the seal’s
power derives not from its status as a royal or personal mark but rather as an item
linked to the esoteric sciences. As a result, seals and seal designs are essentially
bivalent in that they act as symbols of authority and power as well as graphic
designs that are believed to preserve an individual from harm, trouble, and illness.

The history of seals stretches back to the beginning pressed it down to make a seal impression on official
of Islam and to the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, correspondence. From a structural and functional
who is recorded as having used a signet ring to both perspective, then, it is not entirely different from later
sign and seal his official correspondence, especially Islamic seals. For example, a Safavid personal seal
his letters to Byzantine and Sasanian rulers. His signet stamp made in Iran also is made of silver, and it, too,
ring, or khatam, is described in a number of textual was used to seal a document with its owner’s name,
sources as made of silver and bearing either a silver thereby helping to impress an authenticated mark of
or agate bezel containing three lines of text that read authority.
“Muhammad is the Messenger of God” (Muhammad
Rasul Allah). (V. Porter et al.). The Prophet’s ring does Despite such similarities between Muhammad’s
not survive today, although its impression is visible signet ring and the Safavid seal stamp, there remain
on a parchment letter now held in Topkapi Palace, notable differences. First, the Safavid seal stamp is
Istanbul. (H. Aydin). not worn on the finger. Instead, it includes a vertical
post with a hole pierced in the top globular section,
In the Hadith, the Prophet’s companions narrate through which a string would have been looped,
that Muhammad used his silver ring to stamp letters thereby enabling its suspension to an object or
but that he would not wear the ring per se. (Y. Nabhani). garment. Second, its inscription is more elaborate as it
If this indeed had been the case, then one could includes the owner’s name encircled by an inscription
imagine that he held the ring between his fingers and written in Arabic. Regularly appearing in Shi‘i Iranian

Professor Christiane Gruber is associate professor of Islamic Art at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her primary
field of research is Islamic painting, in particular illustrated books of the Prophet Muhammad’s ascension, about which she
has written two books. She also authored the online catalogue of Islamic calligraphies in the Library of Congress.

Hadeeth ad-Dar 2 Volume 38

function as a protective and curative device. Whether prophethood is sometimes preceded by an Ottoman
worn on the body or else carried in the hand, seals Turkish text providing the reader directions on how
were interacted with in highly tactilic ways, and it is to touch the design in order to activate its protective
precisely through physical engagements that the qualities. For example, one Ottoman prayer book
power of seal designs were believed to be activated dated 1808 includes a design of the seal of prophecy,
by their Ottoman viewers and carriers. inscribed with a promise to its owner: “Go wherever
you wish, for verily you are well protected” (N. Safwat).
Of paramount importance among the three Another, dated 1877, tells its reader that, “whoever
named seals is the so-called seal of Muhammad’s rubs the seal on his face morning and night will be
prophecy (muhr al-nubuwwa). Textual sources absolved from eighty years of sins; and whoever looks
state that the Prophet bore a mark of apostleship at the seal at the beginning of the month will be safe
on his back between his shoulder blades. Some of from all misfortune” (N. Safwat). Here, the pressing and
Muhammad’s companions described the mark as rubbing of the seal on the viewer’s face is believed to
a mole or protuberance, while others state that it activate the emblem’s healing and protective powers.
looked like a cupping glass, a pigeon’s egg, or the
mark left behind by a leech. Regardless of its shape, Like Muhammad’s seal of prophecy, the seal of
and whether it was acquired in his youth or during his Solomon attests to Solomon’s utmost rank and his
celestial ascension, Muhammad’s seal of prophecy authority. Solomon could control humans, jinns, and
was thought of as a concrete, recognizable mark of the winds thanks to the abilities given to him by God.
divinely granted prophecy and purity on his physical A sign of this divine gift—that is, the seven signs of
body. God—were engraved in a star-shaped hexagon into
his signet ring (E. Doutté and W. Budge). Essentially
Seal designs that depict Muhammad’s seal of a six-pointed star, the seal of Solomon also was
prophecy appear frequently in Ottoman devotional intended as a representation of the seal of the great
manuals, which combine verses from the Qur’an and name of God (al-ism al-‘azam) (J. Dawkins).
prayers written in both Arabic and Ottoman Turkish.
In such miscellanies, the muhr al-nubuwwa appears As a quintessential emblem of sovereignty, power,
drawn in two variant shapes as well as framed by and protection derived from the great name of God,
Muhammad’s names and inscribed with the shahada the seal of Solomon was one of the most popular
(E. Wright). seals in Ottoman lands. According to Evliya Çelebi,
it was considered so powerful that it was sometimes
Often, it is circular and thus may recall a mole, while designed onto the walls of Ottoman fortresses, acting
at other times it appears as an elongated omphalos or as a defensive bonus when bricks and stones were
else an extended ogival form. thought insufficient (E. Çelebi). Moreover, the seal
of Solomon often appears as a six-pointed star in
Alongside its graphic representation and pious portable coin-seals and talismanic shirts, as seen in
inscriptions, the image of Muhammad’s seal of Figure 1. Produced in multiple media, this particular
seal acts as a “praiseworthy method” (al-tariqa
al-mahmuda) of seeking protection by containing
the spirits, as Solomon did, and by trusting, obeying,
and supplicating the One True God (E. Özbilgen
and Porter). This kind of practice comprised a licit
or “white” form of magic, in which seal-like devices
were regarded not as magical implements but rather
graphic devices that helped seek insurance from God.
As such, the Solomonic star was understood as a
graphic channel toward securing divine dispensation
rather than a device used in the performance of black
magic.

Beyond architecture, talismanic shirts, and

Figure 3 portable coin seals, the seal of Solomon counts

Hadeeth ad-Dar 4 Volume 38

have only provided a brief summary. Only God the In conclusion, it is clear that Ottoman seal designs
Almighty knows” (B. Schmitz). provided authoritative marks and protective devices
for their wearers and beholders. Exiting the material
This single-folio text is intriguing for a number of spheres of rings and stamps, such designs entered
reasons. First, the reader is told that there exist many book and textile arts from the sixteenth century
explanations of the great seal of God and that this short onward. In many Ottoman devotional prayer books
text represents merely a synopsis, or mukhtasar. This and talismanic shirts, a wide variety of seal designs
sentence is quite valuable insomuch as it indicates that can be found, including the seal of Muhammad’s
there were other, more elaborate texts describing this prophecy, the seal of Solomon, the seal of God’s
kind seal that were written and available to an Ottoman great name, and various other seals that include Qur’anic
reading public, thus attesting to how common this seal excerpts and pious supplications. These portable seals
and its related explanation, or sharh, must have been. were thought to bear protective and curative powers
Second, the text makes it clear that the seal is not that could be unleashed by their owners’ physical and
just a pictogram devoid of powers. Rather, it is to be spiritual proximity to the written word.
considered a blessed imprint. Saturated with latent
sacred powers, the seal can be activated in order to Over and again, one cannot fail to notice that
forgive man of his sins and to save him from calamity. these seals are neither ciphers nor cryptographs.
However, these powers can only be achieved through The premium is always placed on the integrity of
a number of practices, which include reading the seal’s the written word, legible and uncorrupted even
contents (repeating the pious exclamation “Ya Allah”), when formed into an abstract seal design. Whether
carrying it (in the hand or pocket, or else on the held in the hand or pressed upon the body, Ottoman
physical body), and rubbing it on the face at particular seals were not thought of as magical devices.
moments, such as at sunset and sunrise or else at Instead, they were graphic constructs that served
the beginning of the month. These detailed directions as legible and legitimate channels for spiritualized
prove that seals functioned as intermediary vehicles communication with the realm of the sacred. As
for orally praising God and, as blessed items; their such, they mediate and transcend two spheres—the
powers could only be unleashed in a state of piety literal and allegorical, the human and divine—acting
and through a series of tactilic interactions that had to in essence as iconotextual intermediaries for a
follow the rhythm of the days and months. Last but not devotee wishing to secure the custodianship of God
least, the viewer is reminded that the seal’s operative in his daily affairs. Alongside a number of other artistic
potential is due to the permission and knowledge of traditions and materials, seals pay tribute to the visual
God alone. richness of Ottoman religious life during the modern period.

Figure 1: The Al-Sabah Collection, Figure 3: Cbl T 463, Ff.91V-92R Figure 5: Nypl Turk Ms. 9, 38V-39R
Lns 856 J (Wright P. 158, Figure 114)

Figure 2: Tezcan, Tilsimli Figure 4: Khalili Mss 0304

Gomlekler, 53, Cat.2 Fol 6B – 7A

Hadeeth ad-Dar 6 Volume 38

and Lorenzo Lotto. The majority of these carpets were still celebrate the rebirth of Osiris in their celebration
woven in the Ushak area in Western Turkey. of “ Shamm el Naseem” in early spring. Shamm el
Naseem being the Arabic name of the freesia flower.

The Mesopotamian also emphasizes the concept

of rebirth after death in the flood myth, which was
later adopted by the Jews in the Old Testament.
The classical religions had a great many Gods reborn
as flowers: Narcissus, Anemone, and Iris, to name but
a few, with the rebirth always happening in early spring.
The Zoroastrians, and later the Persians celebrated,
and still do, their New Year in early spring with a
great show of flowers. And in Christianity, the death
and the resurrection of Christ takes place in early
The Golden Age of carpet production was in 16th spring.
CE Persia, under the rule of Shah Abbas the Great.
Some of the greatest carpets ever were produced With Islam, all this changed. A lunar one replaced
in this era. The examples that have survived are the solar-based year. Arts assumed a strongly non-
palpable evidence of this. Of these great carpets representational character, all the while embracing
the “Ardebil” Carpet, the “Emperor” carpet, the “Poldi- the dematerialization of surface as the major design
Pezzoli”carpet, the “Chelsea” carpet, to name but a principle. In carpets, the design elements were almost
few. With their exquisite design and workmanship, always vegetative and carpets took their actual form
and imposing size they are the jewels of the Islamic as gardens, embodying the Islamic image of paradise.
carpet collections of great museums. Carpets are designed like ideal oriental gardens. In
fact the names of the different elements of a carpet
During later centuries, carpet production declined design are synonymous with their respective names
in quality and quantity. The only notable items being in landscape design. Carpets reintegrated these
the carpets produced in Central Persia to be offered ideal gardens indoors, and into the shelter. The
as gifts to foreign dignitaries. Small size carpets in silk multi sensory experience of the combination of all
and brocade, named “Polonaise” because a number of the arts became now complete, as these arts can be
them were discovered in Polish collections, and larger experienced on a simulation of a garden, i.e.: The
size items named “Portugaise” due to the depiction of Carpet.
Portuguese sailors and ships in the spandrels of the
carpets.

The Flower:

Carpets as we know them today are a product

of Islamic Art. The design of all carpets is always a
garden. This garden represents the image of paradise,
and its main design element is always the flower.
The Complex and the Abstract
Islam did not originate from a void, as
fundamentalists like us to believe. Islamic culture is the Early Classical period Persian court carpets were
culmination of a long period of human development extremely sophisticated in weaving and design. Their
and its arts are a continuation of the culture and arts design used intricate curvilinear forms coupled with
of preceding periods. The significance of the flower a spectacular color range to create volumetric three-
goes back to the earliest civilizations and seems to dimensional effects. They further used the harmony of
have played a role in the solar-based agricultural these forms and colors to achieve a magnificently rich
life cycle. This cycle comprises the concepts of birth, whole. The development of the classical design of
life, death and rebirth again in the next spring. The medallion carpets resulted in a standardized layout in
flower is the catalyst of rebirth. This is evident in the which the significance of the different design elements,
Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris. Modern Egyptians forms and colors is metamorphosed, and becomes

Hadeeth ad-Dar 8 Volume 38

 use of the flower as the main motif of this design were
always present in them.

The overall layout of these rugs followed a design

in which the field is not symmetrical but with a top
and a bottom end. The top end points to the direction
of prayer. The field is always enclosed in several
borders.

The designs can vary. Some are architectural,

with an arch, often flanked by colonettes, indicating
The Herati or Mahi Pattern the prayer direction. Others can have naturalistic or
abstracted trees of life as a central motif in the field,
This is a very popular pattern in carpet weaving, the direction of the drawing being the direction of
and has been used extensively as a major or as the prayer. Yet others can indicate this direction by a play
only design element in the field design of carpets. The in the form of the spandrels.
pattern consists basically of a lozenge shaped design
surrounding a flower. Two opposing pairs of “Shah
Abbas” style palmettes emanate from the four corners
of each lozenge. These lozenge arrangements are
placed in alternate rows and in a quincunx formation
all over the field of the carpet. The residual interspaces
are filled in with confronting pairs of “Saz” leaves that
resemble fish, hence the name “Mahi”, which is the
word for fish in Persian.

The pattern is believed to have originated in the

region of Herat, and to have been a derivative of the
repetitive field designs, as manifested in Turcoman
and other similarly designed carpets. The creation
of this versatile pattern with its never-ending variants
and possibilities is very interesting. By the repetitive
and staggered placing of rows of similar elements,
and a judicious choice of color, we can achieve a wide
scope of pattern within pattern as well as all sorts of
pattern groupings. We can also achieve interesting
three-dimensional effects. Like Turcoman carpets,
the designers have managed to achieve much with
very little design material.

The garden represented here is an orchard,

representing its repetitiveness of planting, and the In all cases flowers are always the omnipresent
system of planting in staggered rows. The Herati motif. They are rendered in different types and they
pattern developed late, only appearing in examples form the basic and secondary elements of the design
from the early 19th CE. The Herati or Mahi pattern is of the field of the carpet. Flowers also are the main
found in rural and town-produced carpets, and has design element of borders and sub divisionary bands.
been woven in all qualities from the very fine to the Whatever their aspect, prayer rugs, like all carpets,
commercially rough. are conceived as gardens.

Prayer Rugs Garden to Carpet

Although prayer rugs were woven to serve a Carpet compositional conception is a pointillist art.
specific purpose, yet the design as a garden and the The design is made up by a pattern of equal sized

Hadeeth ad-Dar 10 Volume 38

 Selseleh: Artistic Lineages in
Persian Painting

Layla Diba
Presented in English
19 March 2012

Gazing recently at an installation of modern Iranian paintings, I seemed to

recognize a certain kinship between them, one not purely formal or thematic,
but a deeper, almost familial bond. These visual links seemed to take me back
through a portal into the past and I glimpsed, as in a dream, generations upon
generations of Persian masters, each a link in a golden chain to the present day.
Selseleh, whose primary meaning is chain, has Tahmasp, studied painting with Sultan Muhammad,
been used to define a political dynasty, a chain who had succeeded Kamal al- din Bihzad, the leading
of authorities, and spiritual and family lineages of artist of the Timurid era, as the director of the royal
poets and calligraphers It is a term also familiar library.
from biographical and hagiographical literature and
classical Persian poetry. The term has rarely been Sultan Muhammad’s name is frequently cited
applied to the study of Persian painting. with that of Bihzad, as the two paragons of their age.
Sultan Muhammad is known to have had a son, the
The idea of links, bonds, and chains as well painter Mirza Ali, and a grandson, the calligrapher,
familial bonds across space and time, associated illuminator and painter, Zayn al-Abidin. According to
with the term Selseleh, seemed to me to parallel and the Qazi, Mirza Ali grew up in the royal atelier and
illuminate the features of continuity, perfectionism, and learned his craft under his father’s supervision He
consistency that I had associated with the continued was one of the most skilled painters of his time and
florescence and creativity of Persian art over the contributed superb paintings to the aforementioned
centuries. My investigations seemingly effortlessly Shahnameh and the 1539 royal Khamseh. Zayn
led to three families of painters. Over the span of five al- Abedin, who was praised both for his skill and his
hundred years of Persian history, each family in their character, secured a lifetime post in the royal ateliers
own way had played a critical role in introducing new under three Safavid rulers and worked on a number
developments to Persian painting. of major manuscript commissions,. Thus we can
see Sultan Muhammad’s influence in royal circles
The Selseleh of Sultan Muhammad and the Rise of stretching across two generations of artists and five
16th Century Lacquer painting reigns, suggesting a kind of artistic dynasty.

Sultan Muhammad, according to the early 17th Further information on Sultan Muhammad and his
century author and calligrapher Qazi Ahmad ibn Mir family is gleaned from the Ottoman civil servant and
Munshi al-Husayni (ca. 1606), was born in Tabriz historian Mustafa Ali. Mustafa Ali writing in 1585-86,
and served his apprenticeship as a painter there. claims that Sultan Muhammad had another son by the
According to the Qazi, the second Safavid ruler, Shah name of Muhammad Beg who was also a painter and

Dr Layla S. Diba was the first woman museum director in Iran. She has written and lectured extensively on Persian
painting and sits on the Guggenheim Museum’s Asian Art Council, and is actively involved with the Metropolitcan Museum
(NY) and the Harvard Art Museum’s Islamic department.

Hadeeth ad-Dar 12 Volume 38

the introduction of a novel style of Perso–European he includes in his signed works, Haji Yusuf, gives no
painting, farangi sazi and ensured its continued indication of his profession, only that he was a Muslim
popularity in the 18th century. who had made the trip to Mecca and was therefore
authorized to use the appellation Haji. The use of the
term Qumi also points to the family’s origin in the holy
city of Qom. According to Manucci, Zaman was sent
by Shah Abbas II to Italy as a youth in the 1640s to
study theology.

On his return to Isfahan, he was accused of

apostasy and emigrated to India in search of his
fortunes for a few years. It is there in New Delhi in
the year 1660 that Manucci met Muhammad Zaman
living at the time in Kashmir. According to Manucci,
they discussed theological questions, Zaman having
several Latin books. The theory that Manucci’s
Muhammad Zaman and the painter Muhammad
Zaman were one and the same is not universally
accepted. I tend to accept the identification of the two,
based on the following remarkable evidence.

A recently discovered surviving manuscript seems

to corroborate Manucci’s story. A Persian translation
of the Italian medical and scientific treatise entitled
Giardino del Mondo by Tommaso Tomai published in
1582 (Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. No. p. 326) begins
with a preface by the translator Muhammad Zaman,
Figure 2
Farangi Khwan. He notes that he was used to reading
works in Greek and studying this language and that
The capital of Isfahan became the symbol of the he planned to pass the time on his journey to India
cosmopolitanism and wealth of Safavid Persia. Indeed, from the capital of Isfahan, by translating Italian works
it was dubbed from this time onward, nisf-i jahan, “half in his possession.
of the world”. The mode of painting which emerged
from this period of cultural interchanges, farangisazi, We may speculate that Manucci’s Zaman and the
incorporated Renaissance painting techniques of later painter in Isfahan were one and the same and
perspective, chiaroscuro, and modeling into the that he may possibly have tried his hand at copying
stylized and relatively abstract mode of manuscript some of the book’s images during his travels and
illustration. subsequent stay in India. This theory is corroborated
by a little-known work of Zaman’s with intriguing
Muhammad Zaman, arguably the most prolific inscriptions from a 17th century album of Mughal and
painter of this school, has proven to be one of the Persian paintings (in the Metropolitan Museum of Art).
most controversial figures in the history of Persian The ink drawing of a copper plate press is inscribed
painting, much like Riza Abbasi. This is so in part, “from the book of machines. . . like kh in the month
because he is the only Persian artist to be discussed of Rabi al-Avval of the year 1094 A.H. (equivalent to
in a contemporary Western source, Nicolau Manucci’s 1683-84) the humblest Zaman.” The letters illustrating
Storia do Mogor (History of Mughal India), 1653-1708. the parts of the press are carefully copied. The book
The controversy has been further fueled by questions of machines he referred to is Vittorio Zonca’s Novo
of attribution and authenticity raised by the fact that Theatro di Macchine ed edifice per Varie e Secure
both paintings and lacquer works attributed to Zaman, Operatione le Loro Figure (Padua, 1607, 1640, 1656)
feature three different types of signatures. likely one of the Italian books owned by Zaman.
Further evidence of Muhammad Zaman’s talent as
We do not know if Muhammad Zaman was a translator-cum-illustrator of Italian texts is provided
destined to be a painter. The name of his father, which by newly discovered unsigned watercolor illustrations

Hadeeth ad-Dar 14 Volume 38

and rulers, and compositions of court receptions of historical events of Abul Hasan the First, transmitted
dated between1781 and 1794. through the Ghaffari artistic lineage.

Abul Hasan worked within the idiom of late

The family tradition was passed on to the next
Safavid painting, yet he developed a signature style
generation after Abul Hasan’s untimely demise in
reflecting its evolution in the 18th century to a broader
1866. His son Yahya, later known as Abul Hasan the
more expressive mode. Distinctive features are lively
Third, had apprenticed under his father, probably on
compositions, broad shouldered figures, stiff turbans
the 1001 Nights project, as can be deduced from
and placid- faced youths. Most compelling for our
a Masnavi of Rumi he illustrated with 50 paintings,
attribution is his habit of using inscriptions in thulth
clearly influenced by the style of the 1001 Nights.
script in his paintings either as borders to carpets or
Nasir al Din Shah deeply regretted the loss of his most
in architectural panels.
gifted court painter and in homage to him awarded his
The Ghaffari family continued to thrive in the son the title Abul Hasan the Third, which he did not
19th century under the Qajars. During Nasir al-Din really merit.
Shah’s long reign from 1848 until his assassination
in 1896, Academic style European easel painting was During this generation, the number of Ghaffari
promoted at the court through patronage, institutions family members active as painters grew even further
and instruction as the visual embodiment of a “Modern” to include the most illustrious of all, Muhammad
yet “Independent” Qajar Iran. In 1862, painting began Ghaffari Kamal al-Mulk. the rightful heir to the
to be taught at the Dar al Funun, the first European Ghaffari tradition. Muhammad Ghaffari cherished a
style Institution of higher education, along with copy of his ancestor’s history of the reign of Karim
photography and lithography. Khan and discussed his ancestor and enumerated his
The Ghaffaris played a leading role, as had our paintings with learned friends. Muhammad Ghaffari
other artistic dynasties, at this critical juncture in executed portraits of the ruler, scenes of the court
Iranian history. Their talent opened the doors of royal and palace and landscape views that surpassed
favor to them and their experience in government his contemporaries in their almost photographic
stood them in good stead in acquiring patronage. realism, attention to detail and color sense.
The family tradition was carried on by Abul Hasan
Ghaffari, who signed himself Abul Hasan the Second The painting of Nasir al Din Shah in the Diamond Hall
in homage to his great uncle, in his earliest works. is considered by many as his masterpiece and is one
of the landmarks of modern Persian painting, a last
His first major commission was the illustration of link in this long golden chain of art and history.
a massive six volume manuscript of the 1001 Nights
where we can discern the influence of Abul Hasan the This essay has presented the story of later Persian
First. Subsequently Abul Hasan was sent to Europe, painting through the history of its creative families- a
like Muhammad Zaman before him, to study painting genealogical approach if you will. This approach
and lithographic illustration in Italy. Shortly after his expands our field of investigation beyond questions
return to Iran in 1861, the ruler ordered him to set up of individual authorship and patronage. By focusing
the first lithographic press, to produce an illustrated
court newspaper, and to train artists in painting and
the use of the press.

Abul Hasan developed an exceptionally fine

portraiture style which was a hybrid between the
classical Persian painting and a more modern vision,
reflecting a limited adoption of European painting
conventions. During the brief period of his heyday
from 1861 to1866 he also produced a superb series
of lithographic illustrations which not only included
incisive portraits but also vivid images of urban life,
which were revolutionary in that they appeared to be
based on direct observation. I would also argue they
reflect the interest in physiognomy and the recording
Figure 5

Hadeeth ad-Dar 16 Volume 38

 Sculpture in Islamic Iran

Parviz Tanavoli
Presented in English
26 March 2012

The topic of my lecture is about sculpture in Islamic Iran. Despite numerous

books and articles on pre-Islamic sculpture of Iran, no significant study has been
under-taken on the sculpture in Islamic Iran. Due to prohibition of sculpture,
to most people , there is no sculpture in Islam. This paper is aimed to discuss
the attempts of the artists whom by their contribution kept this art alive.

In the early literature of Iran only one sculptor is

mentioned. This mythical figure’s name is Farhad-e
Kuhkan, or Farhad the Mountain Carver , and his
legendary story is told in the Khamseh of the late
12th- early 13th-century by Persian poet Nizami.
Although the love story of Farhad, which was set
during the pre-Islamic Sasanian period (224-651 CE)
has overshadowed his occupation and he is seldom
recognized as a sculptor, the brief mentions by some
early historians leave no doubt that Farhad was the
last sculptor of Iran, before Islam.

Among the historians who mention the name of

Farhad is the mid-10th-century Arab geographerr
Abu Dalf Mas’ar ibn Muhalhal. Several paragraphs
about sculpture in his book Al-Risalah al-Thaniyah
(the second treatise) that mention Farhad are
noteworthy. While traveling though Kermanshah
before 940 CE, he describes the statue of
Khosrow Parviz—the Sasanian king on his horse—
and a few of the reliefs in a man-made grotto.
Then he writes, “It is said that these were made by the
order of Khosrow Parviz by Farhad-e hakim” (Farhad
the sage).

Two centuries later, Nizami (c. 1141-1203 or 1217),

while creating the love story of Farhad and Shirin,

Hadeeth ad-Dar 18 Volume 38

incense burner and locks were adopted with the rest became the center of sculpting activities, to such an
of Islamic culture. These, as we will see later, laid the extent that sculpting reached its zenith during that
foundation of three-dimensional figurations period. This early Islamic plaster head , perhaps
one of the earliest pieces from northern
In the first few centuries of Islam, the eastern Khorasan, still bears some aspects of pre-Islamic
part of Iran became the center of sculptural activities. sculpture.
The distance from the Muslim caliphs, more than a
thousand miles away from their capitals in Syria
In this period (10th to 13th century), techniques of
and Jazira, gave courage to craftsman in eastern
bronze casting were further developed. Artists and
Iran to incorporate human and animal forms into
artisans at that time turned their attention to naturalistic
utilitarian objects. These include some of the pots with
figures, namely animals and birds, and managed to
human shapes made in southeastern Iran during this
realize their ideas through advanced techniques of
period, between 8 to 10th centuries. Human figures
bronze casting. One of these, an ewer now in Hermitage
were also made in bronze and used on handles for
Museum in St. Petersburg, made in shape of cow, calf,
vessels.
and lion with the height of 35 cm is a masterpiece of
the period. Important data on this piece including
All the above-mentioned examples were small and
the date 1206 CE and the name of its creator Ali ibn
were functional in some way. Pure and non-functional
Muhhamad ibn Abu’l-Qasim an-naqqash is engraved
sculptures had to wait longer, but not too long.
on the piece Why the creator of this work calls himself
‘naqqash’ painter and not sculptor remains an
A few life-size stucco figures unearthed in
unanswered question.
northeastern Iran well represent the development of
the sculpting in the 12th and 13th centuries. Two of
these stuccos are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Obviously to make such formidable sculpture, one
in New York and one is in the Detroit Institute of Arts. has to have experience and knowledge of sculpting.
The Khalili Collection in London also possesses one. An ordinary painter could not make such piece. In my
The position of the stucco of the Khalili’s piece shows opinion in those days a sculpture guild did not exist,
a male or female in motion, in oppose to the static or if it did, it was not openly announced and sculptors
position of the previous ones. Besides the full figure preferred to be recognized as painters.
in the Khalili Collection, there is also a head that was
originally part of a whole figure. Birds were also favored by artists. An eagle and a
rooster, also in the Hermitage Museum, are also great
The 10th to 13th centuries can be called the examples of the period. The powerful forms of these
golden era of sculpture in Iran. During this period, sculptures are rooted in the pre-Islamic art of Iran,
northeastern Iran, particularly greater Khorasan, while the surface is delicately decorated with Islamic

Hadeeth ad-Dar 20 Volume 38

people. Numerous stone lions in the tribal cemeteries Fath ‘Ali Shah, the second Qajar king (r. 1797-
of western Iran can still be seen. Among the most 1834), can certainly be called the reviver of the art of
outstanding are those of the Bakhtiari. sculpturing in later times in Iran. History condemns
him for the multitude of his wives and the loss of the
Stone lions were not only installed on tombs. The northern part of the country to the Russians. But
Safavids and later rulers used this form for column history cannot deny his love of the arts. The number
of painters and sculptors he gathered at his court and
the works he commissioned to them are well beyond
the scope of this paper.

During his crown prince-ship in Shiraz, Fath’ ali

Shah must have visited Persepolis and other ancient
sites. In those days, the history of Iran was mixed
with legends and Persepolis was thought to be the
palace of Solomon.

Upon becoming shah, the ambitious young Shah

bases in their palaces. One of the most powerful ordered the Isfahani sculptors to carve a throne out
of these stone lions supports columns under the of marble to match the legendary throne of Solomon,
overhanging roof of the Palace of Chehel Sotun (forty which was carried on the shoulders of the angels and
columns) in Isfahan. demons. Shah was aware of his physical beauty and
said that he was grateful to God for having granted
Another 17th-century stone lion, which was once in it to him. He commissioned more portraits of himself
the Khalvat Palace, is now in the garden of the Chehel than did any other Iranian king. Just before he died, he
Sotun Palace. A water spout is carved alternatively ordered a full-length figure of himself to be carved on
with a lion and the figure of a young girl wearing only his marble tombstone. Even after his death, Fath’ Ali
a short skirt, a provocative scene for those days. Shah wanted to be surrounded by beautiful women
and his love for women was not diminished even then.
The Afghan invasion in 1722 and the subsequent
fall of the Safavids put a stop to all art production, The name of the designer Abdulla and the and
including sculpting. The country did not recover the sculptor Muhammad- Ali Isfahani both appear at
during the short domination of the Afghans, and not the bottom of the tomb stone. Carving a large scale
even after their defeat by Nader Shah (r. 1736-1747). human figure on tomb- stone and placing it in one
During the reigns of Nader Shah and his successors, of the holiest shrine’s of Iran “Qom’ in those days,
although the country was unified, but little attention called for a lot of nerves and Fath’ Ali Shah had it.
was paid to the arts. This task was passed on to the This large tomb sculpture was a great innovation
next dynasty, the Zand period dating from1750-1794. for his time, and one that was followed by his sons
and successors Muhammad Shah and some of his
Karim Khan Zand the founder of Zand dynasty sons and grand- sons including Shoja’al Saltaneh,
(r. 1750-1779) moved his capital to Shiraz and invited Qahreman Mirza, and Mirza Muhammad Khan.
the remaining artists and artisans of Isfahan and other
cities to his new capital. In addition to some great The last figural tombstone of a ruler in Iran is the
architectural works, Karim Khan promoted other arts, that of Naser al-Din Shah (r.1848 1896).
including sculpture. A large relief in his Divankhaneh
( The royal palace) in Shiraz showing the fight between Another contribution of Fath ‘Ali Shah in Iranian
Rostam and Ashkboos, a scene from a tale in the sculpting was the revival of relief carving on mountain
Shahnameh of the 10th- to 11th-century by Persian poet sides. Such sculpting has a long history in Iran and
Ferdowsi, is the only remaining sculpture of Karim goes back to second millennium BCE. At the beginning
Khan’s reign. The relief shows Ashkboos falling from of this talk we saw the last pre-Islamic rock sculpture,
his horse after being hit by Rostam’s arrow. Without which was attributed to Khosrow-Parviz.
any doubt, the artistic foundation Karim Khan built
in Shiraz paved the way for the following rulers and Revival of this art by Fath ‘Ali Shah will be better
further development of sculpture in Iran. explained in my forthcoming book Sculpture in Islamic

Hadeeth ad-Dar 22 Volume 38

previous reliefs a derivation of Persian miniature shoe keeper’ the second on is the ‘mutevalli’ or the
painting, this one is based on Western art. Here the custodian , the third one is a hajjar or the tomb- stone
artist has created a naturalistic work and to show his maker and the last one is a lock seller. You would be
ability he has chosen to portray the horse and the interested to know that these locks were not for home
Shah and his companions from the front and with security, but for the pilgrims. The pilgrims who had
deep perspective (not seen in Persian miniatures). unsolved problems or wanted their wishes to come
through, bought one of these locks and put it on the
The name of the artist and the date are carved grilles of the shrine.
below the relief and it reads “the work of ‘Ali Akbar
Hajjar,” 1295 AH, or 1878 AD. This sculptor was one What I showed you, although it is not all that was
of Naser al-Din Shah’s court artists. Although it is said made, but it is not too far off either. If you multiple
that he was sent to Europe to master his training, but the number of sculptures I showed you, by two or
I have found no document to confirm Hajjar’s visit to three times, it will be close to a right figure. Now if you
Europe. divide this number to 14 hundred years, then you will
realize the modest production of the sculpture during
What is certain, his early training was at Dar the Islamic era.
al- Fonun- the first academy of Iran, founded in 1851,
where he studied under the court painter Isma’il Another point to mention is the inconsistency of
Jalayer and the French instructor Monsieur Constant. the Islamic sculpture of Iran. About 90% of the works
I showed you were made in two golden periods, the
Ali Akbar was a multitalented sculptor. A small first period was from 10 to 13 century and the second
sculpture of Eve carved in marble during his period from 17 to 19th century.
apprenticeship and a bust of Naser al-Din Shah made
during his youth, show his ability in this field. He also Any time the country was ruled by an art admirer
knew about casting. His monumental bronze work, Sultan or Shah, and if this sultan or shah was
of Naser al- Din Shah on horseback, was quite an ambitious and wanted to have a legendary court or
undertaking for those days in Iran. The sculpture was palace, similar to those of the great Pre-Islamic kings
installed in a public park and drew protests of the the of Iran, he gathered artists of all fields and asked
mullahs. Although Naser al-Din Shah did not remove them to incorporate human and animal figures in
it, but later it was removed and melted down. In the fringes and column bases of their architecture, or
addition to the above mentioned, there exists several make them into useful objects.
paintings bearing the signature of ‘Ali Akbar. His
signature also appears on the tombstone of Mahd-e It was through the efforts of these people that the
Olya (the mother of Naser al-Din Shah), next to the art of three dimensionality survived and its beauty and
name of his father, who was also a sculptor. splendour was passed on to us.

At the end of the 19th century, sculpture reached In today’s Iran hundreds if not thousands of
the peak of its popularity in Iran. In those days youngsters are choosing sculpting as their main
anyone built a decent house, sculpture was a part of profession and this number is on a constant rise.
it. Before the days of indoor plumbing, every house
had a pool, and on most pools the water spouts were Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli is an internationally
in the shape of human heads or animals. At the main recognised sculptor and author. His work has been
entrance door of some aristocrat homes, the figure exhibited in galleries, museums and public spaces
of a guardian was installed. This trend even found its around the world, with solo exhibition in London’s
way to some of the holy shrines. The reliefs before Austun/Desmond Gallery (2011). Mr. Tanavoli has
the entrance gate of the Shrine of Abdolaziz in Ray authored dozens of publications, dating back over
(south of Tehran) show the occupation of some of the three decades on subjects ranging from Iranian tribal
people working for the shrine. The first one is “the textiles to locks.

Hadeeth ad-Dar 24 Volume 38

assess Dante Alighieri’s
Divine Comedy through
a cross-cultural lens to
uncover the traditions
coming from the Islamic
world that are so deeply
inserted into Dante’s
narrative.

Asín Palacios’ book

inspired a wide array of
energetic reactions, both
positive and negative;
however a negative response to his study persisted of dreaming. Generally, the dreamer retains only
in public opinion long after it was published. But in strange sensations: a vague recollection of combined
1949, a mere five years later Asín Palacios’ death, real and fantasy elements.
two scholars, the Spaniard José Muñoz Sendino and
the Italian Enrico Cerulli, uncovered the 11th century In the last century psychoanalysis focused
Kitab al-Mi‘raj, the The Book of Muhammad’s Ladder, on oneiric symbols as a revelation of the inner
which describes Muhammad’s night journey. This work and private unconscious. Through dreams, and
had been translated into Castilian (now lost), Latin particularly through analysis and comprehension of
(Liber scalae machometi) and Old French (Le livre the structure of dreams, it is possible to provide a
de l’eschiele Mahomet) by scribes of King Alfonso the therapeutic interpretation of the dreamer.
X el Sabio. It appears that Dante’s mentor Brunetto
Latini stayed at the court of the Spanish king in 1260, Throughout Ancient Greece and the Arabic and
providing a plausible means by which a translated Latin Middle Ages the unconscious was understood
version of the Kitab al-Mi‘raj could have travelled to through external and religious elements. The ancient
the Italian peninsula and to Dante’s milieu. Although science of dreams was a process of analysis that
this “missing link” was not available to Asín Palacios,
sought to define a natural and divine component. It
he had based his work on several similar accounts
was believed that dreams were linked to sensory
of Muhammad’s Book of Muhammad’s Ladder then
reality, and that the dreamer, in sleep, could indeed
circulating among the literary or pious Muslims of Al-
have contact with the divine.
Andalus.

Dreams and visions generally characterize every

In 1993, an eminent Dante scholar, Maria Corti,
revelation in literature, but they also distinguish the
put forward the need of re-examining the connections
sacred texts of the religions of the Mediterranean, as
highlighted by Asín-Palacios. More recently, a new
generation of scholars is focusing once again on the mentioned above, appearing liberally in the holy Bible
consequences of this argument. and in the holy Qur’an. Both texts are based on the
revelation of the divine message, giving to humanity
Scholars have agreed essentially on one point, the possibility of interpreting this message. The one
which is the concept of the ascent of the individual who will be capable of it will be considered the elect,
soul in the afterlife functions as grand allegory for the the prophet who will translate through recording his
gradual purification of humanity. Another commonality mystical experience.
shared by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, is the
experience of revelation through a spiritual vision, In the second century CE, Artemidorus Daldianus
and that visions received in dreams play a very wrote the most important dream-book of antiquity. It
important role in the process of revelation itself. is an encyclopedic dictionary of oneiric symbols. This
book is a guide for the dreamer, and it inaugurates
So dreams are central to the understanding of the
the important traditions of both oneirocriticism (the
connections between East and West. Why is it so?
science of interpreting dreams) and oneiromancy
Perhaps because every human being dreams. (divination by means of dream analysis) during the
Every society tries to analyse the irrational process Middle Ages.

Hadeeth ad-Dar 26 Volume 38

used dreams as a narrative expedient because it was dream - correspond to entries of the Somniale
an element that could be perceived and understood Danielis. According to the Somniale Danielis,
easily and widely. dreaming of an eagle flying above one’s head
confers honor, something that Dante is pursuing in
Tracing the presence of the Somniale in literary his ascension toward Earthly Paradise. Dreaming
miscellany manuscripts, I have identified and of a woman means harm, damage, and what Dante
transcribed eight unrecognized traditions of the is stepping into when he dreams of the stammering
Somniale Danielis bound together with icons of early woman. Finally, dreaming of someone who picks
Italian literature in their Latin and Italian vernacular flowers means to beware of the enemy, a condition
versions. Brunetto Latini, Dante, Guido Cavalcanti, that describes Dante when he finally enters Earthly
Cecco D’Ascoli, Antonio Pucci, Petrarch, Boccaccio Paradise.
and others are particularly well represented in these
manuscripts, and it is not a mere coincidence. The Now I will essentially focus my attention on the
reason for the integration of the popular-scientific second dream of the Purgatory. Here Dante relies on
genre of the Somniale Danielis in these authors’ work an important Islamic divinatory science, geomancy, in
can be explained by the fact that they were more order to interpret dreams. If the Somniale Danielis is
attentive to the oneirocritic tradition from Artemidorus a reference text for oneiromancy, the prophet Daniel
Daldianus (2nd century CE) and to the mystical theories also gives his name to other lesser-known treatises;
of the thirteenth century, with its implementation especially those linked to other divinatory sciences
of Islamic theories of dream interpretation through such as geomancy. The Malhamat Dāniyāl was a
Leo Tuscus’ translations, which are so critical to the popular text with astrological and meteorological
understanding of the circulation of Islamic traditions characteristics of Christian origins with Islamic
throughout the Latin world. additions. Thus, Daniel, as the Biblical prophet who
was able to interpret dreams, was attributed the
In the Divine Comedy, as we shall see, Dante invention of oneiromancy and geomancy.
perfectly integrated Islamic dream sciences. This
is particularly evident in the narrative moments Divinatory sciences are thus gathered under
in which the poet dreams, during his voyage into one name, that of Daniel, who is able to legitimize
the afterlife. Indeed the Comedy features three them, especially in face of the Catholic censorship.
dream sequences; all of them are situated in the Geomancy -‘ilm al’raml, science of the sand, was
Purgatory, the intermediary realm before the ascent introduced by the Arabs into the Latin Occident and
to Paradise. In Dante’s text, dreams are recurrent Byzantine Orient around the twelfth century. It is a
and demonstrate a great knowledge of contemporary divinatory technique that allows the knowledge of
theories of oneirocriticism. The capacity of dreams to the past, the understanding of the present, and the
predict the future, discussed by oneirocriticism and telling of the future. This science is based on simple
oneiromancy in classical and medieval treatises, is signs without requiring any specific instrument;
translated in the Comedy into the anticipation of key for this reason it was used more frequently than
structural elements of the text. astrology. It required only the act of tracing points on
the ground or on paper that were related to planets
The first dream alludes to the purifying voyage that and constellations. Between 1288 and 1295 Islamic
Dante is about to undertake, while he is assisted by a geomantic manuals were translated into Latin.
divine intercessor like the eagle. In the second dream,
the Femmina Balba, the stammering woman, symbol In the thirteenth century, contemporarily to the
of the seduction of mundane things, anticipates the diffusion of these texts, some instruments and manuals
three next circles, where he purges the incontinence dedicated to divinatory arts were commercialized.
of love. In the third and last dream, Leah, a symbol of In Venice’s harbour, which was one of the most
active life, helps Dante to enter Earthly Paradise. important harbours of the eastern Mediterranean,
some instruments for geomantic calculation and
The immediate significance of the symbols that astrolabes with their manuals of instruction arrived
Dante dreams, is possibly recovered with the aid of with other oriental goods.
the Somniale Danielis. The symbols that appear to
Dante in his three dreams - the eagle, the woman Upon the diffusion of these instruments, the
and the act of picking flowers as Leah does in the Islamic divinatory arts became easier to practice

Hadeeth ad-Dar 28 Volume 38

 The Power of Art:
Views from the Modern Middle East

Venetia Porter
Presented in English
5 November 2012

The British Museum has a growing collection of works by Middle Eastern

artists which it has been building since the late 1980s. It consists principally of
works on paper and now has over 200 artists from across the Middle East and
North Africa represented in it. Middle Eastern artists often maintain clear links
with their history, cultural heritage and the politics of their countries today, on a
variety of levels whether they are living in their country of origin or in diaspora.
What particularly interests the British Museum, as a museum of history, are the
narratives inherent in these works. This article highlights some of the museum’s
recent acquisitions. (Middle East and North Africa Modern art, the British Museum).
Focussing on work made during the last decade, a
number of themes are addressed in the pieces that the
museum has acquired and which are discussed here:
conflict and war, gender and identity; links to cultural
heritage such as literature, Islamic architecture and
talismanic traditions. Turning first to conflict and war,
it is hardly surprising that this should be a subject
of artistic expression when we consider what has
dominated the region during the last decades: the
first Gulf war and the invasion of Kuwait (1991), the
Iraq war and its aftermath (2003), the attacks of 11th
September and their aftermath (2001), the continued
and troubled history of Israel and Palestine, the event, or capture a moment in time; the most skilled
recent ‘Arab Spring’ effecting changes of regime in can convey a mood, or give pause for thought. If we
Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt, and which has inspired the consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for example,
current and desperate civil war in Syria. The rawness, two artists highlighted here Suleiman Mansour and
immediacy and response to the various conflicts can Eman Mohammed offer particular perspectives: in a
be seen in graffiti, posters, cartoons, video films and charcoal and watercolour drawing entitled Homeland
installations being produced all over the region in Mansour shows blank-faced people going through the
addition to the more traditional arts such as painting barriers of a check point. While Eman Mohammed, a
and sculpture. photojournalist and reporter based in the Gaza strip
in an evocative image taken in 2009, focuses on the
Artists living and breathing the issues and conflicts plight of an individual, Mohammed Khader whom we
that affect them can shine a light on a particular see feeding pigeons in front of his house in Gaza

Hadeeth ad-Dar 30 Volume 38

a fascinating perspective, and so decided to interpret
this photographically’.

Turning to the work of other artists, it is interesting

to look at four Iranian artists in the British Museum
collection who focus on aspects of heritage and cultural
tradition: Y.Z. Kami, in a work entitled Endless Prayer,
creates a series of ‘bricks’ out of numerous and tiny
brick-shaped pieces of paper, cut out of poetry and

Y
Endless
Prayer XIII,
2008
BM.

prayer books. These ‘bricks’ are then glued to the

canvas in circular or spiralling patterns, which echo
the architectural detailing of some Islamic domes. Fereydoun Ave, Rustam in the dead of winter
Inspiration for the spiralling patterns comes from
the motion of Sufi dervishes in worship, particularly
those of the Mawlawi order, founded by Jalal al-Din
Rumi (d. 1273). For Kami, the patterns reference the
dome as a powerful integration of form and symbol.
Sadegh Tirafkan, in Human Tapestry is drawn to the
form of the Persian carpet. For him it is ‘a symbol of
culture, seasonality, richness, diversity and continuity
in time and in history. As such’ (he writes) ‘I have been
obsessed by the parallelism and marriage between
this symbolic, intricately loomed object and the people
to which it belongs.’ This last alludes to the fact that
this work, made up from the mass of tiny photographs,
is also a commentary on the population explosion in
Iran and the huge numbers of unemployed young
people in the country.

Another popular theme is literature, and Fereydoun

Ave is inspired by the stories of the Shahnama (Book
of kings). In this work, he shows the hero Rustam in
the guise of a pahlavan. The pahlavan tradition has
ancient roots going back to the epic heroes of the pre-
Islamic era. The most revered of these is Rustam, a
on a series of trials of strength and bravery called the
jahan pahlavan (world hero), who could slay beasts
‘Seven Labours’. These involve journeys far afield and
with a single blow. In the Shahnama, Rustam embarks
fraught with danger, during which the hero struggles

Hadeeth ad-Dar 32 Volume 38

 ,
DIRECTOR S
CIRCLE

KUTAYBA
YUSSUF A L A M I A H

ALGHANIM

BENEFACTORS

AIYDA SALEM INTISAR SALEM SHAFIKA ALI MARIAM NASER

AL-SABAH AL-SABAH AL-MUTAWA AL-SABAH

Hadeeth ad-Dar 34 Volume 38