Persian manuscript, illuminated with ten precious miniatures

Nizami Ganjavi. Khusrow o Shirin [The Romance of Khosrow and Shirin].

€ 28.000,00

One of the greatest Persian Romances by the most famous romantic epic poet of Persian literature, Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209 CE), illustrated with ten finely executed miniatures, each wrought in minute detail and, with figures, birds, and musical instruments backed by skies of gold.

Ganjavi, a native of the Seljuq empire city Ganja (now Ganca, Azerbaijan), wrote several epics, each leaving its own indelible mark on Persian literature. Of these, few have had the incredible impact of "Khusrow o Shirin". Drawing on the "Sha-name" (considered the Iranian national epic) and earlier Parthian myth, Ganjavi's "Khusrow o Shirin" is a highly fictionalized story of the Sasanian king Khosrow II and the Christian Shirin, heavily featuring Khosrow's rival in love, Farhad. The latter became so popular that a tradition of telling the story "Khusrow o Shirin" as a tragedy between Farhad and Shirin continues to this day.

The miniatures in this manuscript are what set it apart: all ten are of the highest quality, liberally decorated in gold, from boots to helmets, wine jugs, and the sky itself. Each figure is personalized, with a distinct expression: sly gossips, entranced princes, men chatting over an open-air fire as they cook meat in all their finery. Even musical instruments are finely and carefully drawn in realistic detail, and each figure's hands are decorated with henna at the tips. Interestingly, the miniatures are painted directly over pages of the original text, perhaps commissioned by an early owner of the manuscript who wanted to add miniatures to a manuscript not originally designed for them. Any chapter titles (picked out in red and ruled in gilt) are actually preserved, left uncovered and carefully worked around by the artist in the composition of the picture. Altogether, a strikingly executed manuscript example of one of the epitomes of Persian Romance.