Courtly Splendor in the Islamic World - The Metropolitan Museum of ...
Courtly Splendor in the Islamic World - The Metropolitan Museum of ...
Courtly Splendor in the Islamic World - The Metropolitan Museum of ...
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Detail, image 27<br />
mak<strong>in</strong>g a royal manuscript<br />
In <strong>the</strong> royal Safavid workshop, <strong>the</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> a manuscript—especially one<br />
as ambitious as this—drew upon <strong>the</strong> resources <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state to employ artists<br />
and supply materials such as paper, <strong>in</strong>k, gold leaf, pigments, and lea<strong>the</strong>r<br />
b<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs. Production took place <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Safavid court’s “house <strong>of</strong> books”<br />
(kitabkhana), which was at once a library and a workshop. <strong>The</strong> process began<br />
with papermak<strong>in</strong>g. Sheets made <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pulp <strong>of</strong> l<strong>in</strong>en and hemp rags were<br />
custom-sized and coated with a starchy solution to prepare <strong>the</strong>m for <strong>in</strong>k and<br />
pa<strong>in</strong>t. Multiple factors <strong>in</strong>formed design and layout: <strong>the</strong> entire text had to fit <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> allotted l<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>the</strong> relationship between text and image had to be mean<strong>in</strong>gful<br />
and balanced, and <strong>the</strong> illustrated scenes had to provide a compell<strong>in</strong>g visual<br />
narrative. Once <strong>the</strong> layout was established, scribes wrote <strong>the</strong> text <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
spaces designated by <strong>the</strong> director, who <strong>in</strong>spected every l<strong>in</strong>e for accuracy<br />
before pass<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> pages on to <strong>the</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>ters.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>ters sketched out <strong>the</strong> entire composition with a light brush<br />
before focus<strong>in</strong>g on specific areas. <strong>The</strong>y <strong>of</strong>ten showed <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>ir talent by<br />
<strong>in</strong>corporat<strong>in</strong>g m<strong>in</strong>uscule details and playful visual elements (see detail<br />
opposite). <strong>The</strong>y prepared <strong>the</strong>ir pigments from natural m<strong>in</strong>erals, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />
semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli (blue) and malachite (green), as<br />
well as gold, silver, sulfur, and dyes from various plants and <strong>in</strong>sects. Thanks<br />
to surviv<strong>in</strong>g contemporary accounts and stylistic analyses <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs,<br />
scholars have been able to dist<strong>in</strong>guish <strong>the</strong> hands <strong>of</strong> many artists <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong><br />
produc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> illustrations—some by name, though o<strong>the</strong>rs rema<strong>in</strong> anonymous.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs were f<strong>in</strong>ished, illum<strong>in</strong>ators contributed to <strong>the</strong><br />
overall sumptuousness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> manuscript by adorn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> borders, chapter<br />
head<strong>in</strong>gs, and text frames with gold. Most importantly, <strong>the</strong>y created <strong>the</strong><br />
complex geometric designs on <strong>the</strong> open<strong>in</strong>g page <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> manuscript, called<br />
<strong>the</strong> frontispiece. <strong>The</strong>n <strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ished gilded pages were burnished with a smooth,<br />
hard stone such as agate or rock crystal to give <strong>the</strong>m a polished effect.<br />
Once all <strong>the</strong> pages had gone through this elaborate process, <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
brought to a b<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g specialist who sewed and bound <strong>the</strong> leaves and attached<br />
a decorated lea<strong>the</strong>r or lacquer cover to <strong>the</strong> sp<strong>in</strong>e. F<strong>in</strong>ally, <strong>the</strong> completed book<br />
was placed <strong>in</strong> a jeweled conta<strong>in</strong>er and presented to <strong>the</strong> patron.<br />
unit 5: chapter 3. <strong>the</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> a persian royal manuscript<br />
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