Arts of Timurids
One hundred and fifty years after the Mongols first invaded Iran, Timur the Lame's ("Tamerlane", a conqueror scarcely less fearsome than his ancestor Genghis Khan) armies swept into Iran from the north-east. Craftsmen were spared from the massacres and transported to his capital, Samarkand, which they beautified with spectacular buildings, including now vanquished palaces with wall paintings depicting Timur's victories.
In the time of Shah Rukh and Oleg Begh the art of miniature reached such a degree of perfection that it served as a model for all subsequent schools of painting in Persia. The most notable feature of the new Timurid style (although derived from the earlier Ilkhan period) is a new conception of space.
In miniature painting, the horizon is placed high so that different planes are formed in which are arranged, almost in perspective, objects, figures, trees, flowers and architectural motifs. This enabled the artist to paint larger groups with greater variety and spacing, and without overcrowding.
 Khusraw at Shirin's palace, from a Khamsah by Nezami. Turkoman, Tabriz, late 15th century |
 Hunting scene from Humay and Humayun of Khajoo Kermani. Timurid, Shiraz, 1427. |
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Everything is calculated; these are images that demand a great deal from the viewer, and they do not yield up their secrets lightly.
Two of the most influential schools were in Shiraz, and Herat.
Under the patronage of Sultan Ibrahim (1414 - 35) the school of Shiraz, basing itself upon the earlier Timurid style, created a highly stylised manner of painting in which bright and vigorous colours predominated. The compositions were simple and contained few figures.
The same city was later a major centre for the Turkoman style dubbed after the ruling dynasty of western and southern Iran. Characteristics of this style are the rich dramatic colours, and the elaborate design, which make all the elements in the painting become part of an almost decorative scheme. This style extended into the early Safavid period but seems to have faded out toward the middle of the 16th century. The most important works of the school are the 155 miniatures of the Khavar-nama by Ibn-Husam, which date back to 1480.
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The first Herat miniatures were in form, a more perfect version of the early Timurid style, which had blossomed at the beginning of the century. Under the patronage of the last Timurid prince, Sultan Hussain ibn Mansur ibn Baiqara (1486 - 1506), Herat flourished as never before and many believe that it was here that Persian painting reached its climax. Their style is distinguished by sumptuous colours, an almost incredible precision of detail, perfect unity of composition, striking individual characterisation of the human figure, and an utmost sensibility in conveying atmosphere from the solemn to the playfulness of narrative painting. The great masterpieces of the Herat school that survive include two copies of the Kalila wa Dimna (a collection of animal fables with moral and political applications), the Golestan ('Rose Garden') by Sa'di (1426) and at least one Shah-nama (1429). |
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As in other periods of 'book art', painting was only one of the aspects in Islamic decoration. Calligraphy was always considered one of the highest forms of art in Islam, and was practised not only by professional calligraphers but also by Timurid princes and nobles themselves. The same artist often practised the arts of calligraphy, illumination and painting. Mirak Naqqash, for example, began as a calligrapher, went on to illuminate manuscripts, and finally became one of the greatest painters in the Herat court school.
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Persian calligraphers excelled in all styles of cursive writing; the elegant large muhaqqaq, the finer rihani, (both with sharp final endings), the dusk-like ghubar, and the heavy pliable thuluth script. In the late 14th century 'Umar Aqta' (with amputated hand), wrote a miniature Koran for Timur, which was so small that it could be fitted under the socket of a signet ring. When Timur disapproved of it because, according to a Prophetic tradition the Word of God should be written in big letters, the calligrapher produced another copy each of whose letters were a cubit1 in length. This was also a time of great development in the decorative arts - textiles (in particular carpets), metalwork, ceramics etc. Although no carpets have survived, miniatures afford ample documentation of the beautiful carpets made in the 15th century. In these, geometric motifs after the Turko-Asiatic fashion seemed to have been preferred. |
Relatively little high quality metalwork has survived from the Timurid dynasty, though again miniatures of the period (whose obsessive detail makes them an excellent guide to contemporary objects) show that ewers with long curved spouts were developed at this time. A few spectacular but isolated objects give a clue to this largely vanished industry, which include a candlestick base formed by knotted dragon heads and a pair of massive bronze cauldrons.
Of gold and silver work apart from a very few pieces, nothing has survived from what must have been a superb output of articles and ornaments in precious metals. Miniatures show gold jewellery sometimes incrusted with stones. The use of precious and semiprecious stones for household objects was widespread under the direct influence of Chinese models. Jade in particular was employed for small bowls, jugs with dragon-shaped handles, and seal rings.
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Recent research has demonstrated that the number of surviving Timurid ceramics is not nearly as small as it was once thought to be. In the early Timurid period no centre of ceramic production is known. However, it is certain that the Timurid capitals (Mashad and Herat in Khurassan, Bukhara and Samarkand in Central Asia) possessed large factories, where not only the magnificent tiles that decorated buildings of the period were produced, but also pottery.
Chinese blue and white porcelain (mainly bowls and large wide rim plates), introduced into Persia in the second half of the 14th century started a new fashion that dominated the production of ceramics throughout the 15th century. Against the white background, lotus flowers, ribbon shaped clouds, dragons, ducks on stylised waves etc. were drawn in various shades of cobalt blue. This style was to continue into the 16th century, when bolder motifs were developed with landscape and large animal figures.
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From an architectural point of view, few innovations were made during the Timurid period with mosques constructed on an old Seljuk plan. The most important contribution of Timurid architecture; however, is in its decoration.
The introduction of faience mosaic ('tile mosaic') transformed the whole appearance of Timurid architecture and together with the use of patterned brickwork, became the most characteristic feature of architectural decoration. Huge surfaces were decorated with facings of carved arabesques and glazed tile work. The glaze was turquoise or deep blue, with white for the inscriptions.
