Art, Allegory and the Rise of Shi’ism in Iran, 1487-1565 / / Chad Kia.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2019
• VerfasserIn: Kia, Chad,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Edinburgh Studies in Classical Islamic History and Culture
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (304 p.) :; 12 colour illustrations

Explores the ways in which esoteric religion shaped the masterpieces of classical Persian paintingTransforming our understanding of Persian art, this impressive interdisciplinary book decodes some of the world’s most exquisite medieval paintings. It reveals the hidden meaning behind enigmatic figures and scenes that have puzzled modern scholars, focusing on five ‘miniature’ paintings. Chad Kia shows how the cryptic elements in these works of art from Timurid Persia conveyed the mystical teachings of Sufi poets like Rumi, Attar and Jami, and heralded one of the most significant events in the history of Islam: the takeover by the Safavids in 1501 and the conversion of Iran to Shiism.Key featuresInterprets celebrated but enigmatic paintings from collections in the Metropolitan Museum, the British Library and the Freer GalleryBrings poetry and art together in a transformative reading of Persian illustrated manuscriptsBridges art history, literature and religion to reconsider Shia and Safavid cultural and intellectual historyConnects Persian figural painting to the rise of the Safavids and Shiism in Iran

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Plates -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Coming to Terms with Meaning in Persian Painting -- 1. Poetics of the Picture: Verbal Imagery and Visual Language -- 2. Remaking Persian Painting: Didactic Sufism in a Timurid Manuscript -- 3. The Third Station on the Path to Sufism: ‘The Bearded Man Drowning’ -- 4. Fixed-figure Prototypes and the Symbolic Order -- 5. The Culmination of a Trend: ‘Depraved Man Commits Bestiality’ 135 Conclusion: The Sufi Synthesis -- Conclusion: The Sufi Synthesis -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index