Academic literature on the topic 'Illumination of books and manuscripts. Islamic painting'

Abstract The Royal Library of Belgium (kbr) has opened a new permanent museum showcasing the historical core of its collections: the luxurious manuscript library of the dukes of Burgundy. Centred around a late medieval chapel that is part of kbr’s present-day building, the museum introduces visitors to medieval book production, the historical context of the late medieval Low Countries, and the subject matter of the ducal library. The breadth of the dukes’ (and their wives’!) interests is reflected in the manuscripts that have come down to us, ranging from liturgical books over philosophical treatises to courtly literature. The Museum places late medieval book production squarely in its historical and artistic context. Visitors are not only introduced to the urban culture that provided a fruitful meeting place between artists, craftsmen, and patrons, but also to the broader artistic culture of the late Middle Ages. By presenting the manuscripts in dialogue with other forms of art such as panel paintings and sculpture, the exhibition stresses that artists at times moved between various media (e.g. illumination and painting) and were influenced by iconography in other forms of art.

Considered one of the pinnacles of the arts of the book in the entire history of Persian art, the life of the Timurid prince, Bāysunghur (1397-1433) and his royal library-atelier have been studied for more than a century. Yet previous scholarship, although solid on it own terms, has not combined study of the entirety of production with sustained analysis of individual productions of Bāysunghur’s atelier. Prior to this study, a number of manuscripts were completely neglected, and several others were studied only briefly. What is more, the single extant document describing procedures and progress in the atelier, although well known, demanded further clarification on various levels. This dissertation discusses in six chapters the operation and productions of the library with particular attention paid to its highlight, Bāysunghur’s famous Shāhnāma. After an introduction to the field and an overview of previous studies, I turn to the report of the head of the atelier, clarifying some technical terms and establishing the date of the report. Secondly, the corpus of Bāysunghurī productions is examined chronologically and in relation to the librarian’s report, with individual manuscripts analysed with regard to their textual and aesthetic traits and their placement in an art historical context. Next, the Shāhnāma of Bāysunghur, which for many years has been inaccessible for close scholarly study, receives extended treatment. The final chapter presents a discussion of the textual and aesthetic content of the corpus and reconsiders the role of the atelier supervisor. The overall aim is to enhance and extend understanding of the arts of the book in a unique royal library, that of Prince Bāysunghur.

This dissertation is the first book-length study to analyse the production and patronage of Islamic illuminated manuscripts in late medieval RÅ«m in their fullest cultural contexts and in relation to the arts of the book of neighbouring regions. Although research concerning the artistic landscapes of late medieval Rūm has made significant progress in recent years, the development of the arts of the book and the nature of their patronage and production has yet to be fully addressed. The topic also remains relatively neglected in the wider field of Islamic art history. This thesis considers the arts of the book and the part they played in artistic life within contemporary scholarly frameworks that emphasise inclusivity, diversity and fluidity. Such frameworks acknowledge the period's ethnic and religious pluralism, the extent of cross-cultural exchange, the region's complex political situation after the breakdown in Seljuk rule, and the itinerancy of scholars, Sufis and craftsmen. Analyses are based on the codicological examination of sixteen illuminated Persian and Arabic manuscripts, none of which have been published in depth. In order to appropriately assess the material and to partially redress scholarly emphases on the constituent arts of the book (calligraphy, illumination, illustration and binding), the manuscripts are considered as whole objects. The manuscripts' ample inscriptions also help to form a clearer picture of contemporary artistic life. Evidence from further illuminated and non-illuminated manuscripts and other textual and material primary sources is also examined. Based on this evidence, this dissertation demonstrates that Rūm's towns had active cultural scenes despite the frequent outbreak of hostilities and the absence of an effective centralised government. The lavishness of some manuscripts from this period also challenges the often-assumed connection between dynastic patronage and sophisticated artistic production. Furthermore, the identities and affiliations of those involved in the production and patronage of illuminated manuscripts reinforces the impression of an ethnically and religiously diverse environment and highlights the role that local amīrs and Sufi dervishes in particular had in the creation of such material.

Orientador: Milton Jose de Almeida<br>Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação<br>Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-04T15:20:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigues_UbirajaraAlencar_D.pdf: 41150719 bytes, checksum: dd62e343c9b0c326b696000c59b681f4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011<br>Resumo: Este é um estudo e uma pesquisa sobre imagens em literatura, cinema, letras e textos em manuscritos e miniaturas árabes e persas. O estudo passa pela novela O colar da pomba, de Ibn Hazm, andaluz do século XI, e suas aparições nem sempre claras no filme de Nacer Khemir, O colar perdido da pomba. O estudo aqui apresentado está relacionado ao meu estudo central sobre as letras e a caligrafia árabes, e sobre o modelo de biblioteca árabe medieval, nos séculos 8 e 9, o Bayt ak-Hikma, A casa da sabedoria, como designavam os persas, e depois os árabes.<br>Abstract: This is a study and a research of images in literature, film, letters and texts in Arabic and Persian manuscripts and miniatures. The study permeates the novel The Ring of the Dove by the Andalusian Ibn Hazm, written about the eleventh century, and how it implicity appears in Nacer Khemir's film, The Dove Lost Necklace. The study presented here relates to my study on the letters and Arabic calligraphy, and a model of medieval Arabic library of the 8th/9th, the Bayt al-Hikma, the House of Wisdom, as denominate by the Persian and the Arabs.<br>Doutorado<br>Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte<br>Mestre em Educação

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2004.<br>Advisor: Dr. Peter Garretson, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Program in Asian Studies. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 13, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

"Ottoman sultans showed a great interest in books; on the one hand, they had their palace workshops prepare manuscripts ornamented with unique illustrations and illuminations; on the other hand, they collected books created in other locations of the Islamic world through various means, such as, gifting, looting, and purchasing. The subject of this article involves the artistic manuscripts from the Ilkhanid era that entered the Topkapı Palace Treasury. Most manuscripts in the Topkapı Palace Library consist of copies and sections (juz’) of the Koran. With their illumination and binding, these large-format books designed by the skillful illuminators and bookbinders of the Ilkhanid era are early fourteenth-century masterpieces of Islamic art of the book. Among these are Koran sections prepared for the famous Ilkhanid ruler, Sultan Uljaytu Khodabanda, and the renowned vizier, Rashid al-Din. Some examples were written by the most illustrious Islamic calligraphers, Yaqut al-Musta’simi and Arghun Kamili, illuminated by the famous artist of the era who worked in Baghdad, Muhammad b. Aybak b. Abdallah, and bound by bookbinder Abd al-Rahman. The Ilkhanid era was also a time when fascinating and important manuscripts were prepared in terms of book illustration. Two of the three Mongol-era manuscripts in the Topkapı Palace collection are copies of the Jami’at-Tawarikh—a general history of the world prepared by a commission led by the vizier Rashid al-Din under the order of the Ilkhanid ruler Ghazan Khan— while the third is a copy of the Garshaspnama. In addition, some paintings that appear in one of the palace albums belong to a volume of the Jami’at-Tawarikh on the history of Mongol khans, which has not survived. The significant and unique paintings of the Ilkhanid era are the Miʿrajnama paintings made by Ahmed Musa featured in the album prepared for Bahram Mirza, the brother of the Safavid sultan, Shah Tahmasp. The preface of the album written by Dust Muhammad refers to the famous painter Ahmed Musa, who lived in the era of the Ilkhanid ruler Abu Said, to have “removed the veil from the face of painting and invented the painting that was popular in that era.” In addition, the author states that he illustrated a Miʿrajnama. However, only the eight album pages with miʿraj images have survived this work. Through their bindings, illuminations, calligraphy, and illustrations, Ilkhanid era manuscripts from the Topkapı Palace constitute a vital collection that demonstrates the advanced level reached by the arts of the book during this era. "

The fourth and final chapter focuses on the patronage of one individual, who emerges from surviving material as the most prolific manuscript patron of late medieval Rum. The three manuscripts discussed in this chapter were commissioned by Sharaf al-Din Sati ibn Hasan, an amir, history writer and Mevlevi devotee. The key manuscripts are a copy of the Masnavi of Sultan Walad from 1366, a two-volume Divan-i Kabir from 1368 and a 1372 copy of the Masnavi, both by Jalal al-Din Rumi. Several manuscripts belonging to Sati’s son, Mustanjid, are also considered. Although a production centre is not named in the manuscripts, the patron and his family were based in Erzincan. This chapter outlines and contextualises the political and cultural activities of Sati and Mustanjid and considers where the manuscripts may have been produced. Moreover, the distinctiveness of the manuscripts’ illumination, and the patron’s connection to the Jalayirids, generates a discussion concerning the relationship between the arts of the books of Rum and the Mongol successor states.