What do you know about the miniature “Farhad’s Sea Journey”?

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What do you know about the miniature “Farhad’s Sea Journey”?

The similarity to Herati work is, for instance, demonstrated in the miniature entitled “Farhad’s Sea Journey”, in which the shape of the ship, as well as the stature and clothing of the people are reminiscent of the illustration from the 902 / 1496 copy of “Hasht Bihisht” by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, attributed to Bihzad while the sea monster that can be found in the top left part is reminiscent of the miniature from Nizami’s Quintet of 1494, which is also attributed to the same artist.

What do you know about the miniature “Farhad’s Sea Journey”?

The difference is also evident: the artist of the Kulliyat avoids depicting the coastal landscape and architectural structures. This can be explained not only by the lack of these features in that particular story, but also by the simplification of the composition in order to give it a more dynamic appearance.

In this miniature, the young prince Farhad is depicted with a Timurid crown on his head and dressed in brightly coloured clothing. He is also depicted as a young man in the miniatures where he sits next to his father, talks to stonemasons in the mountains and carries Shirin together with her horse. In the illustrations “Farhad destroys a cliff” and “Farhad stands before Mihin-Banu” the main character is depicted with a beard, which, as it appears, was drawn on later.

You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Arts of the book in the 15th–17th-century Mawarannahr" (Volume XVII) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections". 

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