User:Pickwickwoop/Mohammad Zaman
Muhammad Zaman ibn Haji Yusuf Qumi, known as Mohammad Zaman (fl. 1660 – c. 1700), was a famous Safavid calligrapher and painter.
Life
Mohammad Zaman was born in Kerman, Persia to Haji Yusuf, and he received his education in Tabriz.[1] For his great intelligence, he was sent by Shah Abbas II of Persia to Rome to study Italian painting, and there he converted to Christianity. In his conversion he took the name of Paul and became Paolo Zaman. When he returned to Persia he was forced to flee to India because of his conversion to Christianity. In India, he became a refugee, or mansabdar, and obtained the protection of the Mughul dynasty under the emperor Shah Jahan[2] and later Dara Shikoh. He lived mostly in Kashmir, but was invited to go to Dehli with other mansabdars by the Aurangzeb. In Dehli around the year 1660 CE, he met Niccolao Manucci, a Venetian traveler who wrote accounts of the Mughal rule. Mohammad Zaman returned to Persia around the years 1672-73 and embraced Islam once again. After reestablishing his reputation and making the Islamic pilgrimage, he received the title of "haji" like his father. He then worked in the city of Isfahan from the years 1675-78.[1]
Mohammad Zaman favored night scenes, and his work combined multiple influences, drawing subjects from European paintings but with Mughal or Kashmiri stylistic touches.[3] He introduced a European style to Safavid painting in manuscripts. This style combines Persian iconography and compositional elements with more European elements, such as chiaroscuro, atmospheric effect, and “Western” perspective.[4]
Notable Works
Year | Title | Medium | Dimensions | Current Location | Place of Creation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
from 1660 until 1665 CE | The Night Halt[5] | Gouache, gold and ink on paper | 5 x 8 in. (12.7 x 20.5 cm) | Louvre Museum | Iran |
1663-1664 C.E. | Blue Iris[6] | Ink, opaque watercolor on paper; gilded borders | Sheet: 13 1/16 x 8 3/8 in. (33.2 x 21.3 cm) | Brooklyn Museum | Isfahan, Iran |
1663–69 CE | Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi[7] | Opaque watercolor, ink, silver and gold on paper | 18 1/2 x 11 1/8 in. (47 x 28.2 cm) | Metropolitan Museum of Art | Likely Isfahan, Iran |
1664–65 CE | A Night-time Gathering[8] | Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper | Page: 13 1/8 x 8 1/4 in. (33.3 x 21 cm)
Mat: 19 1/4 in x 14 1/4 in. (48.9 x 36.2 cm) |
Metropolitan Museum of Art | Iran or India |
1675-76 CE | Bahram Gur proves his worthiness by killing a dragon and recovering treasure from a cave (in Khamsa of Nizami)[9] | Painting on paper | The British Library | Safavid Iran | |
1675-76 CE | Episode from the Indian Princess’s story: King Turktazi’s visit to the magical garden of Turktaz, Queen of the Faeries (in Khamsa of Nizami)[10] | Painting on paper | The British Library | Safavid Iran | |
1675-76 CE | The servant girl Fitnah impresses Bahram Gur with her strength by carrying an ox on her shoulders (in Khamsa of Nizami)[11] | Painting on paper | The British Library | Mazandaran Province | |
1676 CE | Majnun visited by his father[12] | Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper. | Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Lent by The Art and History Collection | Isfahan, Iran |
Contributions to The Khamsa of Nizami
The Khamsa of Nizami, a manuscript of five poems by poet Nizami Ganjavi, is known for its Safavid illustrations—three of which are attributed to Mohammad Zaman. It has been suggested that he produced these paintings in the 17th century as additions to the original manuscript. It is also suggested that the paintings by Mohammad Zaman were inserted in the Khamsa of Nizami after being removed from somewhere else, as there is some damage to the upper sections.[13]
Mohammad Zaman's depiction of Bahram Gur and the Indian Princess features wingless faeries, different from other depictions of the scene. The text adjacent to the image is a section of the Tale of the Indian Princess, which ends with a description of food and wine for a banquet in the King and Queen's pavilion. However, Mohammad Zaman's depiction does not include this pavilion scene, instead depicting King Turktazi and the Queen of the Faeries. [4]
References
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- ^ a b Martinovitch, Nicholas N. (1925). "The Life of Mohammad Paolo Zaman, the Persian Painter of the XVIIth Century". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 45: 106–109. doi:10.2307/593479. ISSN 0003-0279.
- ^ Martin, Fredrik Robert (1912). The miniature painting and painters of Persia, India and Turkey, from the 8th to the 18th century, vol. 1. London: B. Quaritch. p. 124.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Piotrovskij, Mihail Borisovič; Rogers, John Michael (2004). Heaven on earth: art from Islamic lands works from the State Hermitage museum and the Khalili collection. Munich: Prestel. p. 136. ISBN 978-3-7913-6013-3. OCLC 1022836498.
- ^ a b Landau, Amy S. From Poet to Painter: Allegory and Metaphor in a Seventeenth-Century Persian Painting by Muhammad Zaman, Master of Farangi-Sazi. 2011. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=edswah&AN=000349958500005&site=eds-live&scope=site.
- ^ Zaman, Muhammad; Hadi, Muhammad (1660), La Halte nocturne (Page de l'Album de Saint-Pétersbourg ), retrieved 2024-03-01
- ^ "Brooklyn Museum". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Abu'l Qasim Firdausi | Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ "Painting by Muhammad Zaman | "A Night-time Gathering", Folio from the Davis Album". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ London, British Library, Or. 2265, ff.203v.
- ^ London, British Library, Or. 2265, fol. 221v.
- ^ London, British Library, Or. 2265, f. 213r.
- ^ "ISFAHAN". referenceworks. doi:10.1163/2330-4804_eiro_com_3579. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
- ^ Soucek, Priscilla; Isa Waley, Muhammad (2011). "The Nizāmī Manuscript of Shāh Tahmāsp: A Reconstructed History". A Key to the Treasure of the Hakim: Artistic and Humanistic Aspects of Nizami Ganjavi’s Khamsa. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 195–210.