The miniatures themselves were created in a provincial studio by mediocre miniaturists (it should be added that the faces of the characters were damaged and then survived rough attempts to repair them). Such standard miniatures made by mediocre artisans side by side with real masterpieces of outstanding artists are typical of a number of Iranian illuminated manuscripts of the 16th century.
The following stage in the development of the Sefevid miniature art can be seen in the illustrations of the manuscript “Haft awrang” by Jami dated 994 AH/1587. In type they are close to the miniatures of the Shiraz school, but belong to one of its provincial branches.
The artist located the events of the poem mostly near pavilions with separate ornamentation on a background of blue or lilac hills and a golden sky as if suggesting the intense heat. Probably meeting the requirements of the customer, he stressed features not of urban lifestyle, but of the life of steppe inhabitants.
In this regard, these miniatures can be compared with illustrations depicting the life of nomads produced by the outstanding Tabrizian artist Mir Sayid Ali’, although they are inferior in many respects.
In the Institute’s collection there are a number of miniatures of the Isfahan school dated to the 17th c entury. They are three illustrations for the anthology of verses by Amili Inventory No. 12660 “Nan wa khalva” copied in 1027 AH/1617 – 18. These miniatures, probably, created in the shah’s court studio, are of fine quality, although the paints have faded.
Almost half a century later the miniatures for the manuscript Inventory No. 662 by Nizami (1075 AH/1665) were created. They have intense coloring; pinkish-lilac mountains with sharp contours contrast with the dense green meadows; the bright colors of clothes are accented. The static figures counterbalance the dynamic structure of the mountains.
You can learn more about this topic in the book-album “The Collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental studies, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (part five, “Miniature and Calligraphy”) (Volume XXV) from the series "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan".
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