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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
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The battle of Mazandaran
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown
CREATED/PUBLISHED
ca. 1564-1579
NOTES
Dimensions of Painting: 50.6 (w) x 68.5 (h) cm
Dimensions of Written Surface: 53.4 (w) x 70.5 (h) cm
Script: nasta'liq
This large-scale painting depicts the Battle of Mazandaran, an event in the Persian romance of the mythical adventures and battles of Amir Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, recorded in the famous "Hamzahnamah" (Book of Hamzah). The "Hamzahnamah" was begun around 1564 under the sponsorship of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) and was completed in approximately fifteen years. A number of the manuscript's original folios totaling 1,400 in number -- including this painting and its attending text (1-90-154.188 V) -- were brought together, exhibited, and published in 2002 (Seyller 2002: 262-3, fig. 41).
This painting is number 38 in the 7th volume of the "Hamzahnamah", as inscribed between the legs of the man in the bottom center. It depicts a battle scene in which the protagonists Khwajah 'Umar and Hamzah (nicknamed Sahib Qiran, "Owner of the Epochs") and their armies engage in fierce battle. Originally, the faces were depicted, subsequently erased by iconoclasts, and repainted in more recent times. Only the face of the groom wearing an orange turban in the center of the left edge has been left untouched. Immediately above this figure, a soldier in a studded gold tunic has a disjointed face, revealing how an old border was removed and faces retouched.
Approximately 50 painters worked on the project under the supervision of the famous artists Mir Sayyid 'Ali and 'Abd al-Samad, who both had worked ca. 1522-35 on the royal "Shahnamah" of the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp (see Dickson and Welch 1981). Although a number of paintings are linked to specific artists, this one does not bear a particular attribution mark.
The large-scale text panel on the verso describes the Battle of Mazandaran. The text is executed in black nasta'liq script on a large beige sheet of paper that bears substantial water damage. The last three lines also exhibit the crowded writing that is seen frequently in the manuscript as the scribe(s) struggled to complete the narrative account on each text page.
SUBJECT
Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy
Nasta'liq
Arabic calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
MEDIUM
53.4 (w) x 70.5 (h) cm
CALL NUMBER
1-90-154.188
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 238
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.238
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