History of "Persian miniature"

Flowers and birds (Golo Morgh) are a style in Persian miniature. Flowers and birds are symbols of divine grace and gentle manifestation of the God. The flower is a mistress and a bird is a lover. It is not necessary to draw the bird in the work, but if it is present, it is waiting patiently for the flower to bloom and make love with him. The bird sometimes separates itself from the material world by soaring and being in a state of intoxication and ascends to the non-material world.
The theme of the Flowers and birds, which has a romantic connotation, was used in Persian poetry.

Persian miniature painting is a courtly and aristocratic art, with exquisite colors, balanced compositions, and meticulous attention to detail. Although its origins can be difficult to trace, many consider the Arzhang, the illustrated book of prophet Mani (founder of Manichaeism and himself also an artist) from the 3rd century CE during the Sassanian Empire as the foundation of Persian schools of painting.

Throughout its history, Persian miniature painting has had a close affinity with the royal courts and its progression and development had a close connection to the royal patronage and the degree to which the rulers and their regional governors supported and encouraged the artists.

Although each school had its own characteristics which would make it distinct from the others, such as the choice of color palette or the proportions of human figures, all shared some similar stylistic features such as the depiction of faces from the three-quarter view, absence of perspectival depth, and the use of various angles in picturing the elements within a single painting. Furthermore, the Persian miniature paintings have experienced various influences from the Chinese and, later in the 18th and 19th centuries, from European paintings. Nevertheless, it has always managed to keep its Persian identity and essence.

ubject Matter & Characteristics

Partly due to the influence of Sufism and their system of thought, Persian miniatures are free of any particular space or time which endows them with a transcendental quality. Even if elements such as the moon, stars, or even the sun are depicted in the sky, marking it as day or night, they have no particular effect on the rest of the painting since there is no play of light and shadow in the composition. In some examples through the use of a separate frame (with a different sky color and vegetation) inside the composition, the Persian painter has even managed to create two simultaneous timelines. Moreover, as mentioned, Persian miniatures lack perspectival depth. Instead, everything within the composition moves upwards and is pictured in layers rather than diminishing in size and appearing to move inwards.

Before the prevalent influence of European art, the clothing of the figures in the Persian miniatures was almost the same in nearly all periods. Covered with rich plain colors and at times decorated with delicate motifs, both male and female characters dress nearly the same, which at times makes it difficult to tell them apart. Headdresses are one of the specifications that help the viewer in distinguishing the two. While women usually wear delicate scarfs and ornate crowns, men wear different hats from the skins of the animals and different turbans. For men, the style of the headdress can usually also help with identifying the period to which the painting belongs. For example, the Safavids which are also known as the "Red Heads" can be identified with the red rod that is placed above their turban caps.

Within the composition as a whole, one can see that each element (be it architecture, vegetation, or gardens) is depicted using various viewpoints and angles. This reminds one of Egyptian art and their depiction of the human figure and other pictorial elements each from their perfect angle.

From the point of subject matter, Persian miniature paintings mostly depict scenes of royal huntings, battle scenes, and most importantly Persian mythology and poetry; specifically stories of Shahnameh (The Persian Book of Kings) of Ferdowsi (c. 940-1020). From the reign of Shah Abbas the Great (r. 1588-1629) of the Safavid Dynasty onward, we can see a notable increase in the influence of European art on Persian paintings which would be experienced not only in the emergence of new subject matters such as genre paintings, half-nude figures, and solo paintings of birds and plants among many other examples but also in the use of light and shadow and a change in the attire of the figures.

Technique & Material

Although paper itself was invented in China in 105 CE, it was centuries later and in the middle of the 8th century that the Persians started using it instead of parchment and papyrus. To create the fine lines that are characteristic of Persian miniatures, hair from the tail of squirrels and Persian cats were used to make brushes of different thickness, and to create the vivid and rich colors that were used within the paintings, pigments were made from both organic and nonorganic sources and minerals. Unfortunately through time, some of these colors were prone to damage and discoloration and thus have lost their richness.

Although in later centuries single-page paintings became more common, illustrated books were favorable for the nobles and royal court. The production of such masterpieces required a whole team of miniature painters, scribes, binders, gilders, etc., all of whom worked together in a royal atelier or library under the supervision of a director.

Later Influences
Persian miniature paintings have maintained their charm and appeal and with their many unique characteristics, these paintings were and continue to be a source of inspiration for not only contemporary Persian artists but also Western artists such as Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and Henri Matisse (1869-1954). One can discern in the works of these artists traces of the vivid and rich colors, patterns, compositions, and lack of perspectival depth seen in Persian paintings.