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Introduction

Al- Wasiti, the most renowned of painters or musawwrin in Iraq, was a pioneer of the Baghdad school of illustration in the thirteenth century who refined miniature art through his unique style showcased Maqamat al-Hariri. Through research it is obvious that there was very little biographical information about al-Wasiti's personal life, however, in comparison there is an abundance of information about his means and methods of illustration as was depicted in the Maqamat. By detailing what is known about him, facts about the Maqamat, and studying his stylistic features including: special features, color usage, nature, architecture, and depictions of people, al-Wasiti was inspected from multiple viewpoints in an attempt to extract all that there is about this revolutionary painter.

Biography

Al-Wasiti was born in Wasit /واسط , a governate southeast of Kut in eastern Iraq bordering Iran to the south.^[1] He was deemed the miniature artist and transcriber behind al-Hariri’s Maqamat , which can be found at the Bibliotheque National, through a note he left behind in its colophon dated back to e, AH 6 Ramadan 634/May 3, 1237 CE.^[2] Al-Wasiti is one of the few painters or musawwrin that were known by name in the early thirteenth century.^[2][3] The significance of Al-Wasiti’s popularity was not limited to the unique style and artisitc sense that was evident in his craftsmanship; but also expanded to include , the unprecedented signature that he had left in the manuscript’s colophon identifying himself as both the calligrapher and illustrator and giving us the date in which the manuscript was finished added greatly to his fame. Al-Wasiti finished painting and illustrating his copy of the Maqamat on the 6th of Ramadan 634 Hijri, Saturday 3rd of May 1237. Al-Wasiti’s fine artistic style, sense, and use of varying iconography to depict the corresponding Maqama earned him the credit of erecting the Baghdad school of illustration in the thirteenth century, a school attributed with creating an amalgamation of Turkish and native Christian painting in the form of lively Islamic syncretism.^[4]

Al Wasiti's Illustrations in Maqamat Al Hariri

Facts about the Manuscript

In the Maqamat, readers are introduced to two main protagonists: Abu Zayd al- Suruji's an old man who wanders around the Islamic domain tricking people and taking their money with the aid of his captivating articulacy in his soliloquies on the history of literature and culture throughout the depiction of several social anecdotes, and al-Harith ibn Hamam, the narrator and a merchant who acts as a witness who is fascinated by Abu Zayd's and follows him across countries and episodes^[5] All of the manuscript is divided into small anecdotes, with a total of 50 anecdotes, each telling a different story of Abu Zayd in different cities including; Baghdad, Basra, and Cairo.^[5] Al-Wasiti’s copy of the Maqamat is often referred to as the “Schefer Maqamat” in reference to the collector of the manuscript.^[3] The manuscript is made up of 167 folios, the length of each paper is 37 centimeter, and the width of each is 28 centimeters.^[1]

The manuscript has 99 paintings; nevertheless, as mentioned and investigated by Bernard O’Kane, in his article “Text and Painting in The Al-Wasiti’s Maqamat”, the manuscript has a number of missing pages, which is evident from the gaps in the manuscript.^[3] The number of missing paintings goes up to 10 illustrated pages.^[3]With the majority of the 99 illustrations being of remarkable quality, al Wasiti’s contribution to the manuscript's artistic expression of figures and episodes offers an insight and commentaries on the 13^th century Islamic life in the storybook illustrations.^[6] The manuscript, one which is regarded as a masterpiece of the Arab and Islamic Arts, was of an unknown birth place. However, in one of the illustrations a typographic solution bears the name of Al-Mustansir, a caliph that reigned from 1226-1242, one who’s power spread out over expansive dominions the most note-worthy being Baghdad which proved to be the ideal place with a flourishing artistic scene where such a manuscript would be brought to life. It was this Maqamat that provided a historiographic basis for the practice of modern art in Baghdad.^[4]

Evidence on where it was commissioned

The colophon of al-Wasiti/Schefer copy of the Maqamat illustrations tells us the date of illustration and the illustrator’s name, nonetheless, it gives no evidence on the place in which the manuscript was illustrated or the patron that it was made for. The most obvious place of production is Baghdad and this assumption is based on two important reasons; the first is the style (which is very similar to Baghdad school),^[1] the second is the name of the caliph al-Mustansir who ruled over the Islamic empire from 1226-42.^[3] In the last Maqama no.50 of Basra on folio 164b an image of a mosque is displayed and in the inscriptions on the mosque’s walls written the name of the caliph al-Mustansir, who ruled over the Islamic world from 1226-42.^[3] The manuscript could have also been made anywhere within the Islamic dominions under al-Mustansir’s rule; however, since Baghdad was the center of the caliphate and the production on Islamic books and manuscripts it is most probable that it was the place of production.^[3]

In addition to that, the illustrations in this piece shows how greatly al-Wasiti was influenced by the Baghdad School of Islamic art.^[1] One of the main features of the manuscripts produced under the Baghdad School was the individualization of depicted faces; where persons appeared similar to one another with no or very little expressions on the faces.^[1][7]The school also gave minimal importance to parallax rules, and three dimensional depiction through the use of shading, which is the case in al-Wasiti’s work.^[1] Hierarchical proportion, unrealistic portrayal, and reflection of everyday life are all amongst the different characteristics of the Baghdad School.^[7][1]

Al Wasiti's Stylistic Features in the Maqamat

Yahya al-Wasiti is known for his unique and creative style, unlike other artists who were greatly influenced by Greek, Byzantine and Sassanian work, al-Wasiti sought inspiration from the conventional aspects of everyday life in the Islamic region.^[1] Most of the images in his work reflects day-to-day life in different cities around the Islamic world, nevertheless, we see a multitude of Sassanian features in the draping of the cloth and the person’s sizing.^[1]In the Maqamat, viewers were introduced to illustrations of a life-like nature, one which elevated them above the conventional commonplace level that Arab manuscripts were lingering at.^[8]The illustrations witnessed the grouping of animals, people,instruments, and other pictorial components into single closed groups enlivened with the a variance of hues and color values all of which highlighted the aforementioned life like manner.^[4]Al Wasiti managed to reflect all internal states of his illustrations through the characterization of figures’ faces so that for example Abu Zayd’s face is known in all his canvases at first glance. Furthermore, this manuscript was inlay-ed with interpretations and representations of brilliant psychological nuances that allowed one to look past the unrealistic proportionality of the figures/subject matter to see the essence of human nature in the animated depictions of Aby Zayd and al-Harith amidst the ornamental composition framing them. Shakir hassan al Said, would write in a study of al-Wasiti’s illustrations that:

^[6]

In doing so and creating paintings as he had, al Wasiti has depicted the social and ethical criticism of the people and the rulers, par with Hariri’s text whilst enriching them with additions of tangible and enlightening elements.^[4]

Special Features in al-Wasiti's Work

The al-Wasiti's version of the Maqamat premieres three features of pictorial art that were aberrant of any others present until the day they were introduced. Such physiognomies include: first, at least sixteen double-page paintings, each of which represents a single episode in the text; second, one full-page painting with no text; and third, two paintings spread across two open pages with no text.^[3][5]The canvases of this manuscript are distinct from the perspective of the aspects depicted and their structural beauty deem them more as illustrated paintings than miniatures.^[6] Furthermore, in the Maqamat, viewers were introduced to illustrations of a life-like nature, one which elevated them above the conventional commonplace level that Arab manuscripts were lingering at. The illustrations witnessed the grouping of animals, people, instruments, and other pictorial components into single closed groups enlivened with the a variance of hues and color values all of which highlighted the aforementioned life like manner.^[4] Al Wasiti managed to reflect all internal states of his illustrations through the characterization of figures’ faces so that for example Abu Zayd’s face is known in all his canvases at first glance.^[8] Furthermore, this manuscript was inlayed with interpretations and representations of brilliant psychological nuances that allowed one to look past the unrealistic proportionality of the figures/subject matter to see the essence of human nature in the animated depictions of Aby Zayd and al-Harith amidst the ornamental composition framing them. ^[6]

Lateral expansion as noted by David James in his article “Space-Forms in the Work of the Baghdād "Maqāmāt" Illustrators, 1225-58” is another unconventional feature in al-Wasiti’s work. Lateral expansion was defined as the extension of a single miniature to take two opposing pages in a manuscript.^[5] Not only was this example the first of its kind in Islamic art, but it also took around more than a century to appear in works done later under Iskander Sultan in Shiraz.^[3] Lateral expansion is divided into four main types; the first one single scenes divided into half and each half is placed on one page like in Maqama 14 of Mecca.^[5] The second type increases the space on which an image is spread by expanding the same image on multiple pages, a typical case is crowd scenes.^[5] The third type creates a combination of two miniatures to create an extension, in particular, Maqama thirty-five of Ramla where Abu Zayd meets the Haj camp.^[5] Finally, adding an extra scene to  enlarge and add to the original scene, such as the orchestra in Maqama seven of “Barqa’id”, which was not mentioned in the text but added to create a balance with the opposing image inside the mosque.^[5]

Nature

When it comes to the depiction of nature and landscapes, al-Wasiti represented the horizon as single line or grass strip in almost all Maqamas.^[1] He applied the same methodology to the emulation of backgrounds, where al-Wasiti refrained from using illustrative and decorative backgrounds to describe the landscape like later examples (Shahnama). Instead he relied on a basic schemata of including limited drawn flora such as a stylized tree or two to represent nature.^[1] In a number of illustrations (folio 3b, folio 9b, folio 121a, folio 61a, folio 138a, folio 140a) al-Wasati uses grass to border a certain scene happening in the Maqama as well as a woven and multi plane horizon of rocks to allude to the respective scene taking place on a hill, which is another depiction of nature/landscape.Overall, when it comes to depicting nature, al-Wasiti was more prone to creating stylized and unrealistic expressions of his surroundings. What appears as a lack of impressionism is , in other words, al-Wasiti's rhetoric that imitating or copying the environment is not considered the right way to present it, however, an artist should be innovative in that domain, as no matter how much he tries nature’s beauty will always surpass his artistic talent.^[1]

Color Usage

In al-Wasiti’s Maqamat, colors are mainly used to support different sceneries. Al-Wasiti’s skills are evident in the way he employs colors, as he uses different colors of different combinations with an artistic variance in hues and values to give us the feeling that he is using a variety of multiple colors while actually he is only manipulating shade and light.^[1] For instance, when he surrounds yellow with a dark background the color appears as a strong and vibrant color, but when surrounded with white it appears as a pale grayish yellow. A very good example of al-Wasiti’s utilization of colors to help generate a more lively and realistic scene is in the 10th Maqama folio 28a, where the ruler is displayed on his throne with his green clock that contrasts with the black chair adding to the intensity of the dazzling green.^[1] Moreover, the yellow background implemented in the image adds to the liveliness of the rest of the colors. Finally, the maneuverability of the gold used in the illustrations gives the whole scene nobleness and splendor.

Architecture

When it comes to illustrations of buildings, al-Wasiti offered an elaborate background on contemporary architecture at his time.^[9] He displayed both interior and exterior scenes of several buildings within the community.^[1] Al-Wasiti had his own creative style in demonstrating many buildings like mosques, houses, marketplace, small tents, and large palaces, in this way he was able to allude to and compare different social classes and enclose a message highlighting the gap that had started to appear within the society in the Islamic world.^[1] Different elements like windows, minarets, domes, mashrabiyas, and many more were incorporated into al-Wasiti's paintings as they were essential to the successful conveyance of Islamic life and culture.^[8][1]As mentioned earlier in the style section the details in the portrayal of people were more valued by al-Wasiti than the scale or parallax of the architectural figures, hence sometimes people were found to be as tall as builds.^[1] Finally, it is imperative to mention how al-Wasiti's utilization of talent to depict architecture gave credence to one of his special artistic features: symmetrical composition.^[3]

Depictions of people

As al-Wasiti prioritized the details of the people over the scale, in many cases we encounter unrealistic scale like in folio 40a, 41a, 42a, 101a (Ukasha, 1992). In Maqama 16 folio 42a, we find the seated men to be as tall as the walls of the mosque, which shows that low importance was given to the scale. Despite the fact that the images are not to scale, the overall feel of the persons and pictures was realistic through the movement and the use of hand gestures and facial expressions like in folio 28a.^[1] In Maqama 10 folio 28a Abu Zayd is depicted as a white bearded old man talking to the ruler we loves beautiful slaves, the movement of Abu Zayd’s hands and the ruler’s look towards the young slave that show love and affection are examples of evidence where realism is given to the images using different techniques.

Illustrations from the Maqamat

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