Studying Shahnameh Images dating back to 1551

The period between 15th to 17th centuries in Iran history was the era of flourishing and rapid development of painting that caused the emergence of royal workshops during 14th to 17th century in Iran. Writing Shahnameh was prevalent in these workshops with the aim of expressing the braveries and competence of Timurid and Safavid kings, and book illumination soared at this era due to kings’ support from the art, thus many books are left that had non-royal clients. Among these works, one can mention Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh that has been frequently subjected to painting at Safavid, Turkmens and Timurid eras by painters outside of palace and with the order of tradesmen. This paper aims to study one of these Shahnamehs which dates back to 1551, complied by Saadollah ibn Rafioddin Shirvani. This study aims to examine features of images of this version and the degree to which this painter has been affected by artistic schools and artists contemporary to him. This article is carried out in descriptive analytical manner and its information is collected via library and documentary method. Results of the study show that is mostly affected by Shiraz and Herat schools. It seems that artists of this version were mostly followers of Sultan Muhammad. As painting in this version is featured by some flaws in designing and coloring, the components used are of high similarity. This version is made by two painters in one of workshops of Shiraz school with a same pattern of painting. As features of the version suggest, this can be considered an unfinished work. By examining existing results, it seems that the version dates back to 1501, and maybe it is revised and completed during subsequent eras.

Keywords:

painting , Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh 1551 , Turkmen school , Tabriz Safavid School , Timurid Herat School.