One area that is a subject of controversy is the "Diwan of Ibrahim Mirza". There is an inscription that indicates that it was the work of Abdollah-e Mozahheb. However Stuart Cary Welch has suggested that the "Diwan of Ibrahim Mirza" is the work of several artists and only the signed page can be attributed to Abdollah-e Mozahheb.5. Abolala Soudavar takes the other tact and suggests that the "Diwan of Ibrahim Mirza" is in it's entirety the work of Abdollah-e Mozahheb.6. Between 1616 and 1629 Iskandar Munshi wrote a work called the Tarikh-I-Alamara-yi- Abbasi. Sir Thomas Arnold translated the part dealing with painters in his book "Painting in Islam".7. "Mawlana 'Abd Allah Shirazi was also an accomplished worker in gold; after the murder of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza (in 1574) Ismail Mirza gave him an appointment in the library. At the same period there were other excellent artists and painters, such as Mohammadi of Herat and Naqdi Beg, &c. A selection has merely been 'made of a few of the more famous masters of this art.'" The important part of this quote is the importance placed on Mawlana 'Abd Allah Shirazi who I am calling Abdollah-e Mozahheb. Less than 50 years after the heyday of the court of Ibrahim Mirza Abdollah-e Mozahheb was considered an important artist. We can see here that he was seen as the equal of or superior to Mohammadi who today is considered a far more important artist that Abdollah-e Mozarheb. We must take as a very real possibility that the Persian esthetic placed a far higher value on the artistic skills of Abdollah-e Mozahheb than we in the modern day west generally do. Perhaps what I see as a weakness in the skill of Abdollah-e Mozahheb is really a weakness in my western, overly Eurocentic, taste.
In this comparison we can see many of the more distinctive elements of the Abdullah style in this two images. The use of this style of flowering trees is common. Abdullah often used the gold braided coats and as you can see his birds while rather crude are consistent. Note also the distinctive cloud-band variations and well as the distinctive spikes of the cypress. In most respects Abdullah is like a less talented version of Mirza Ali, but in the roof of the pavilion we can see that in such work Abdullah was the master in the court art of Khorasan. Related work
N.B. My ongoing translation and commentary on "La Miniature En Orient" is a work in progress. I am publishing it one plate at a time in no particular order. I flip through the book and look for one that looks fun and then I do that one next. I suppose the order in which I publish them says something about my taste in art. My primary goal with this project is not to teach you about Islamic Art but rather it is to teach myself a little about Islamic Art. If I make an error please let me know. I am also doing the project this way so that if I make an error perhaps one of you will catch it for me. By the way I also decided that this would be a chance to learn a little more French, since I barely know enough to make it through a menu in a French Restaurant. For Further Reading: Islamic art and Persian Miniature Paintings Thanks and best wishes, J. Barry O'Connell Jr. |
