>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington, D.C.
[ Silence ]
>> Well, good afternoon everyone
and thank you for coming.
And this is-- I'm Mary-Jane Deeb,
Chief of the African Middle
East Division and I'm delighted
to see you all here
for what promises
to be a very exciting
program with one
of the people we have been trying to
get for years, Dr. Massumeh Farhad
who is the most important
person the Islamic collections
at the Sackler Gallery.
And she will be introduced
in a minute.
But, I just wanted to welcome
you all here just to let you know
that this division as many
of you already know is
made up of three sections.
The Near East section is the largest
and includes the entire Middle East,
but also we are-- we have
expanded into Central Asia,
the Caucuses, Georgia and Armenia.
And as with other areas we're
divided along language divisions.
And so of course, the Persian
collections are in this division.
What we do also is not only collect.
Everyone thinks well,
it's a library.
We simply collect stuff.
Well, we collect but we also
make those materials available
to readers.
We guide them.
We have expansive outreach
programs to people
to get them to know our collections.
We invite scholars to come
and discuss their own works
and their research and to share with
us their insights on the materials
that are here in our collections.
So, because we do more
than simply collect
and we do outreach we have been
on a course of doing exhibits.
Exhibits of items, beautiful items
in our collections and we've had
in the past four years, since 2010
we've had four major exhibits.
The Persian book exhibit, A Thousand
Years of the Persian Book is up now.
And if you haven't been there
you're missing something you
know spectacular.
So, I would soundly advise you
to go and see our Thousand Year
of the Persian Book exhibit,
which is across the aisle.
And to let you know that we go
even beyond exhibits we get people
to talk about the items
in the exhibit.
And we have partnered with a very
special person with the University
of Maryland and with the
Roshan Institute handled
by Dr. Fatemeh Keshavarz who has
been absolutely a stalwart supporter
of the library, of its collections,
of its exhibit and whose scholarship
and knowledge we have again
and again gone to as well
for information to help us,
and two weeks ago she did just
the most wonderful program.
She's also a poet,
a writer, a thinker
and so we really are very
privileged to have her as a partner.
And I want to invite her
now to say a little bit
about our symposia and speakers.
>> Thank you so much Mary-Jane
for those wonderful kind words.
It is really a tremendous
pleasure for me personally
and for Roshan Institute for
Persian Studies to be partnering
with the library, with Mary-Jane,
with Chris Murphy who you'll hear
from soon and with [inaudible]
tireless spirit behind the putting
of the exhibit together.
I won't take really a
lot of time here except
for saying this is wonderful.
We're looking forward to
many, many more exciting,
educational and cultural events.
I have to say a word of thank you
to the Roshan Cultural
Heritage Institute at Hawaii
and its President Dr.
Elahe Mir-Djalali
who personally supported the speaker
series, which we put together.
And we've had absolutely
amazing performances
and we're looking forward to more
and today you have
a very special one
in the person of Dr.
Massumeh Farhad.
But, tremendous knowledge she has
of manuscripts, of illustrations,
of art, in Persian art in general,
the Chief Curator and Islamic--
and Curator of the Islamic art
in Freer and Sackler Gallery.
But, I'm not going
to say more, however,
she's going to be introduced
personally except saying it's really
a wonderful privilege.
We're looking forward to more and
welcome and you know it's wonderful
to see all of you here and
we hope to do more of this.
Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
[ Silence ]
>> Good afternoon.
As Mary-Jane and Fatemeh
mentioned I'm Chris Murphy.
I'm the Head of the Near
East section here and it is
in the Near East section where
the Persian language materials are
placed and where Hirad Dinavari
the specialist for Persian
and Iranian studies works.
And if you're coming here to work
on Persian language materials
come here first, see Hirad
and then, you can go from there.
I should note that the
Persian collection that's
in Persian is probably slightly more
than 80,000 volumes plus there are
tens of thousands, perhaps a couple
of hundred thousand volumes in
the general collection in English
and European languages
that are about Iran
and Persian speaking areas.
So, the Library of Congress
collection is one of the largest
in the world and probably
the largest
in North America concerning these
issues focusing on this subject.
Now, before I introduce our speaker
I do want to remind the audience
that this lecture is
being videotaped
for later broadcast on the web.
And while we welcome participation
in the form of questions you need
to know that it is considered
if you should ask a question
that you are giving
implicit permission
to have your image
later mounted on the web
and your remarks also included.
Now, it is truly a
distinct honor and privilege
to introduce today's speaker.
Personally I do remember
when Massumeh first came
to the Near East section.
I was then a relatively
junior member of said section.
I was probably the
most junior member.
And you know this young
scholar came and asked
such interesting questions.
And the fact that she has
advanced in her career
so greatly I think was
indicated in the kinds
of questions she asked
all those many years ago.
Okay, Massumeh earned her PhD in
Islamic art history from Harvard
and then, in 1995 she
joined the Freer Sackler
as the Associate Curator
Islamic Art.
And in 2994 was appointed Chief
Curator and Curator of Islamic Art.
Massumeh has focused on the
arts of the book particularly
in the 16th and 17th century.
She has curated numerous
and splendid shows,
exhibitions on a range of subjects
including Art of the Persian Courts
in 1996, Foundations of Light:
the Nuhad Es-Said Collection
of Metalwork in 2000, Style
and Status: Imperial Costumes
from Ottoman Turkey 2005-2006, Tsars
and the East: Gifts from Turkey
and Iran in the Moscow
Kremlin, which was done in 2009
and on a personal note
I would note--
say that that was the first
exhibition at the first Sackler
that my now wife and
I attended together.
And it was truly, truly splendid.
And then the Falnama: The Book
of Omens that she did in 2009.
Massumeh has written extensively
on 17th century Persian painting
and her publications
include, "Slaves of the Shah:
New Elites in Safavid Iran," which
came out in 2004 and, "Falnama:
The Book of Omens," which came out
in 2009 and we could go on and on
and on, but we shall not, because we
really want to hear from Massumeh.
So, if Massumeh would come forward.
[ Applause ]
[ Inaudible background comment ]
[ Applause ]
>> Massumeh Farhad: Hello everyone.
Thank you for taking the
time to come here on a--
I think it's still beautiful day
outside especially during your
lunch break.
And I will do my best
to keep it short
so you can still enjoy the
good weather while it lasts,
because I hear it's
going to be not so nice.
Thank you Chris for that
introduction now I'm
really concerned.
What questions did I ask?
I'm sure you're being much
more generous than I deserve,
but I do remember spending many
hours in the reading room and going
through the stacks and really
expanding my horizons while I was--
when I came first to Washington.
I also want to take this
opportunity to thank the organizers.
First of all the Library of
Congress who is hosting us
and Mary-Jane Deeb, thank
you, again who's been one
of the most helpful colleagues here
in Washington, Chris Murphy and,
of course, Hirad Dinavari
who's been absolutely amazing
in organizing the exhibition
that he has.
And again, if you haven't seen
it I urge you to go and see it.
Of course, the organizers
of the series needs--
deserves a special thanks,
the Roshan Cultural Institute,
Fatemeh Keshavarz and
also [inaudible].
I don't know where Nars is, right
there, who's done an amazing job
in pulling everything together
and making sure that we all behave
and hand in everything
that we need to hand in.
So, now as for my talk
on the, "Shahnameh,"
I know that I'm not the first one
here to talk about this topic.
But, like any other topic or any
other great literary work be it,
"Dante's Inferno" or Shakespeare's,
"McBeth" or, "Homer's Iliad",
Hirad's "Shahnameh" has enthralled,
intrigued and challenged generations
and it will continue to do
so whether one reads it,
whether one listens to
it or whether one looks
at illustrations of
this incredible epic.
And today what I'm going to do is
give you a little bit of insight
into or at least my
insight into some
of the illustrations
of the, "Shahnameh."
And the way that I've organized
the show and hopefully I can get
through everything, is
really tell you a little bit
about what is the, "Shahnameh."
Where were these manuscripts
created?
And why are there so
many copies of them
and they are still being
created as we know?
So, hopefully I can cover the what,
where and why in the
time that we have here.
And as my examples I'm going
to take two sort of great--
probably the greatest copies of the,
"Shahnameh" that have been created
and then sort of create
two bookends.
One is what is known as,
"The Great Muhgal Shahnameh,"
which was done around 1330 to 1336.
And I'm going to shamelessly
promote the Freer
and Sackler while I
talk in this era.
And I want to tell
you that the Freer
and the Sackler has the largest
number of folios from this,
"Shahnameh" anywhere in the world
and I urge you to come and see them,
because they really are a watershed
in the history of Persian painting.
The other manuscript
that I'm going to talk
about is, "The Pahlavi Shahnameh."
Now, we don't have the largest
number here in Washington.
It's our rival institution
at the Metropolitan,
but we certainly have some wonderful
examples and you are seeing a sort
of a detail of one
of the pages here.
So, these are going to be the
bookends, but I will also talk
about some other paintings as well.
Is there a-- sorry.
Is there something to
forward the slides or?
Ah, just a little bit of background
about the, "Shahnameh" and Ferdowsi.
The, "Shahnameh" was completed
in the year 1010 now
over 1000 years ago.
And it's composed in-- over
some 50,000 rhyme couplets.
And it has-- it's this wonderful
combination of myth, legends
and history in quotations--
the quotation mark of Iran from the
beginning of time until the fall
of the Sasanians in
the seventh century.
The text is centered on the reigns
of 50 rulers including three women
and can be divided
into a mythical section
and a quasi-historical section.
And the quasi-historical
section-- excuse me.
Not a-- ah.
>> [Inaudible background comments]
>> Massumeh Farhad: Oh I have one.
Sorry. And the quasi-historical
section begins
with Alexander the Macedonian ruler
and you'll hear about
him more later on.
These 50 chronicles provide the
framework for the dramatic deeds
and heroic actions for the range of
personalities who are often aided
in battle or otherwise with a
host of fantastic creatures.
So, you can just imagine
by this brief description
that for an artist this is God
sent in terms of illustrations.
Now, who was Ferdowsi?
It is quite remarkable for someone
who has written this great epic
that really spans next to other
great world literary works we know
almost nothing about this man.
We don't even know his proper name,
because Ferdowsi basically
means pairi-daeza
and we don't actually know
what his actually name was.
From a number of self-references
in the, "Shahnameh" we know
that he was born in Eastern
Iran probably around as you--
the area that you see circled and he
lived in Tus, which is near Mashhad
and was probably born
around the year 940.
Now, he started the, "Shahnameh,"
which took about 30 years or so.
He started it at the time when
the Samanid dynasty was in power.
And the Samanid dynasty is
really critical for the history
of Iran especially the
arts and the literature,
because this was the time when
there was a Iranian resurgence
and Samanids were great supporters
of Persian art, literature
and Persian architecture per se.
This was the time when the
Abbasid ruled the rest of the--
thank you, of the Islamic world.
So, this is the moment, the sort
of key moment that Ferdowsi began
to write the, "Shahnameh."
Of course, it took a
while for him to finish,
so by the time he finished the
Samanids were no longer in power
and there was another dynasty
in power called the Ghaznavids.
The Ghaznavids were less supportive
of Persian art and literature.
And the legend goes that
when Ferdowsi and-- sorry.
This is actually an image of
Ferdowsi presenting his manuscript
to Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavid.
Apparently when he did he Sultan
Mahmud was less than impressed
and gave him not very much
money for the work that he's--
that he completed so that Ferdowsi
apparently went to the bathhouse
and spent it on beer
with the men there
and then decided he's
just going to go home
and forget about royal patronage.
But, as the, "Shahnameh" itself of
states at the very end Ferdowsi knew
about the value of his work,
because actually the text finishes
in this way and I'm just
going to read it to you,
because it's quite moving.
And it sort of shows you Ferdowsi's
awareness of the value of his work.
He says I've reached the
end of this great history
and all the land will fall
with-- will fill with talk of me.
I shall not die.
These seeds I've sown will save my
name and reputation from the grave.
And men of sense and
wisdom will proclaim
when I have gone, my
praises and my fame.
And how correct he was,
because as it happens the,
"Shahnameh" is the most frequently
copied text in the Islamic world
and it is the most
frequently illustrated text.
Now, this bars the Koran.
I meant in terms of
secular literary texts.
And-- but what is interesting is
Ferdowsi finishes in the year 1010.
We don't have a copy of the,
"Shahnameh" until the year 1217.
And what I'm showing you on the
screen is the earliest known copy
of the, "Shahnameh" dated 1217,
which has recently been digitized
and is now in the library
in Florence.
So, quite a gap as you can
well imagine for the copy--
for actually having a
written copy of the text.
So, during this time the
sort of oral transmission
of the text was really critical,
but at the same time we assume
that there must have
been illustrated
or actually written copies.
Illustrated copies don't come
in until the early 14th century.
But, we know that there
must have been a tradition
of pictorial representations
of the, "Shahnameh."
And again promoting the Freer
Sackler I'm showing you a
little cup.
It's known as the Freer beaker.
And as you can see from the
date it's early 13th century
and this is the earliest known
object that is illustrated
with an entire cycle
of the, "Shahnameh."
It is the story of Bizhan
and Manizha that you can see
in these little sort of segments.
Sorry. Those are divided up here
and it just circles
the entire little cup
and it's all about this size.
But, this cup predates any
illustrated copy of the,
"Shahnameh" by about 100 year.
So, but what it does tell us is that
there must have been a tradition,
a pictorial tradition of
illustrating the, "Shahnameh,"
but for some reason
it has not survived.
Now, some have argued, because
at this time in the middle
of the 13th century the Muhgals
came sweeping across the area
and that the Muhgals must
have destroyed these copies.
Now, could they have
destroyed every single copy?
I don't know, but this
is what has been argued.
Now, the tradition of continuing
to illustrate scenes from the,
"Shahnameh" in other media continues
and I'm showing you a
tile with-- I don't know.
I hope you can see it,
is the [inaudible].
And the tile next to it
doesn't have an illustration,
but it actually has the text
of the, "Shahnameh" on it.
And these two tiles come
from a wonderful site
in Iran called [foreign
language spoken].
>> If you come out,
they can't here you.
>> Massumeh Farhad:
Ooh, sorry, okay.
I won't come out.
I'll just try and point.
The two tiles come from a site
called [foreign language spoken]
in Iran, which was a-- which was
built during the Muhgal period.
Now, the Muhgal period was
critical for the dissemination
of the, "Shahnameh" tradition.
And in fact, the earliest
illustrated copies of the,
"Shahnameh" come from this period.
So, here we have early 14th copies.
Again, these are from
the Freer collection.
And when you see-- look at these
collections you can see they're
quite simple.
They're-- the illustrations
are like a window in the text
and they truly illustrate
what has been said.
The image, I guess
it'll be on your left,
shows Bizhan in the pit,
which is a famous story.
It is exactly as it
appears in the text.
There is a figure in the pit.
You can see soldiers up there
who probably put him in the pit.
And then, you see a man
there lifting a rock
and that is the famous Rustam.
So, the illustration illustrates
very clearly what has been said
in the text.
The other illustration
shows Afrasiyab
who has imprisoned [inaudible].
And again, the story
is quite self-evident,
[inaudible] with his hands
tied behind his back,
again very clear story.
What is interesting about these
early, "Shahnamehs" is the fact
that they're relatively small copies
and every page has an illustration.
And one of the explanations
for that is the fact
that the Muhgals were foreigners.
They were unfamiliar with Persian
literary traditions and they--
once they conquered they like many
conquerors who conquered Iran began
to assimilate and adopt
the local culture.
And in order to make it easier for
them to understand the, "Shahnameh"
and the stories in the,
"Shahnameh" illustrations,
you know illustrated copies appeared
and with many, many illustrations.
So, it became very
easy to follow a story.
Very soon, however,-- I mean
this is-- we are already--
we are still in the Muhgal period,
something dramatically shifts
and that is painting becomes much
more prominent in the, "Shahnameh."
And here I'm showing you two folios
from, "The Great Muhgal Shahnameh"
and as you can tell the
illustrations have grown.
They have become much more complex.
You don't have this sort of simple
backdrop whether it's gold or red
with the figures all standing
very neatly in a parallel line.
You have a sense of space.
You have a sense of action.
You have drama.
And in many words these
are the first examples
of the painter really
going beyond the sort of--
the simple storyline
of the, "Shahnameh."
Here the painters are
actually trying to capture
and translate pictorially
the essence
of what Ferdowsi is trying to say.
The, "Shahnameh" is in many ways
about action, heroism and about sort
of complexity of characters.
And here in these two
images from again,
the Alexander cycle you see action.
In the one on the right that shows
Alexander building a wall the artist
has taken it upon himself to take
Ferdowsi's words and elaborate
on them and this becomes a
feature of Persian painting.
Ferdowsi doesn't go into
detail how they built the wall.
He describes how they build the wall
in order to keep the people of Gog
and Magog outside and separate
them from the civilized world.
Now, the fact that
they were iron mongers
and people beating the plates into
shape, there was like fire roaring,
etc. None of this is in
Ferdowsi's, "Shahnameh."
Again, it is the artist now who
has taken this role and filling
in the gaps pictorially
and expand the story.
Now, the story fits in
exactly where the-- sorry.
The illustration fits in
exactly where the story begins,
so it goes with the text but
it's now expanded and elaborated.
And this is one of the key features
of Persian painting
especially in the 14th century.
It starts in the 14th
century and then,
it becomes more and more elaborate.
It's like the painter begins
to play a critical role
interpreting the text.
These are no longer
illustrations per se.
These become pictorial
interpretations of the text.
And so, you know paint and ink meet.
The two complement each
other and they sort of--
they play off each
other and that's what is
so special about Persian painting.
Showing you two other illustrations
from, "The Great Muhgal Shahnameh"
and here what the artist has
done, he has tried to get
at the psychological
complexities of the characters.
This is again, another
great characteristic
of the, "Muhgal Shahnameh."
None of the heroes is
simple and straightforward.
You have somebody like
Rustam the great hero.
Rustam can be a real cad.
I mean he-- you know
he is-- he's great.
He's very loyal to Iran.
He supports Iran.
He defends the rulers of Iran,
but he also has a dark side to him
and that's why he's an
interesting character.
That's why it makes him so
sort of bigger than life.
So, what happens in these
illustrations the artist is trying
to sort of capture some of that.
I'm showing you on the left the
[inaudible] of Alexander here.
This is the moment when
Alexander's mother has discovered
that her son has died.
Now, what the artist has done
rather than showing the mother
of Alexander sort of
crying showing her face,
he shows her having flung
herself on his coffin.
It's the figure with the sort
of gray hair and this sort
of very zig zaggy robe that
has fallen off the shoulder.
And when you just look at that
robe, that in many ways sort
of just encapsulates the agony
that she is going through.
So, this is how the
emotional intensity
of the image has been portrayed.
Another interesting aspect
of this painting is according
to Ferdowsi it is out
in the landscape
where Alexander's coffin is first
placed and his mother comes there.
So, what the artist has
done rather than showing it
out in the landscape he puts
it in an enclosed space.
It's more dramatic, because it
sort of adds to the intensity.
And the other thing that he
can do is he can use that space
to show this incredible wealth
that Alexander has accumulated.
When you read the, "Shahnameh"
it goes on about all this gold
and all these treasures that
wherever Alexander went he gathered.
So, in this painting the artist has
put that together with the coffin
of Alexander in order to get to
the main premise of this story,
which is that Alexander
wanted immortality.
And Ferdowsi keeps reminding
him there is no immortality.
We're all going to die no matter
how much you conquer, what you get,
despite your treasure we
all come to the same end
and Alexander will not accept it.
So, in this painting the painter
is making reference to the wealth
of Alexander and his final demise.
Another painting, which
shows the capture of Ardavan
and Ardashir also from, "The Muhgal
Shahnameh," again it's hard to see
on the screen, but this is the
final-- the end of Ardavan.
And you can sort of see the
way that's he's standing.
He's sort of-- his head is
slightly bent and these trees
and the braches sort
of crisscrossing behind
him again intensify the--
sort of the emotion
of the moment again,
that this man who defied Ardashir
for all these months finally has
come to the end and has to realize
that he cannot defy the one who
is going to become the young king.
So, paint is used-- painting is
used to introduce emotion and sort
of the complexity of the characters
that you find in the, "Shahnameh."
This sort of theme
continues in the 15th century.
On the right there is
a painting from 1429
and even though it's almost-- one
would say it's sort of childlike
and you see Rustam on his
horse lifting Afrasiyab.
But, what is so remarkable
about this painting is even though
there is very little differentiation
between two figures just
the way that Rustam has sort
of lifter Afrasiyab up with one
hand and he's sort of crumbled
like these sort of little-- you
know those figures that you see,
you get a sense of his power.
I mean that just tells you right
away and again, it's that sort
of immediate sort of messaging
that becomes so important
in these illustrations
and sort of building
on what is said in the text.
The next painting is one of
Tahmina coming to Rustam's chamber.
And again, I'm sorry you won't--
you can't see it, but what is
remarkable is not only now the
artist has given an
environment for this,
you know this incredible
encounter between these two
and Tahmina basically inviting
herself to Rustam's chamber.
And what is so subtle
is where Tahmina stands.
She's right at the threshold with
one foot in and one foot out.
And again, when you
look at it and you have
to remember these are books.
These are meant to
be looked like this.
So, it's a-- you know and so
when your eye gets drawn to this.
Again, it sort of brings
out the whole complexity
of their relationship,
brings out you know the sort
of the momentous nature
of this moment.
So, it's in these subtle ways
that the artist sort of elaborates
on the stories of the, "Shahnameh."
And now this continues of
course, into the other bookend of,
"Shahnameh" production
which is the great,
"Tahmasp Shahnameh" and I'm sorry.
It's impossible to see here, but
I'm showing you some details,
which is one of the earliest
scenes in the, "Tahmasp Shahnameh."
It's the court of Gayumars.
It's the beginning of the text.
This is the time when
the world was in harmony.
Now, when you look at the,
"Shahnameh" itself the
description is very brief,
because Ferdowsi wants to get on,
wants to get on with what happens,
the introduction of evil
and Zahak, etc. But,
you know in this case
Sultan Muhammad the artist,
he doesn't want to have any of that.
He creates one of the most
hallucinatory paintings
that has ever been created in Iran.
And actually this painting has
been described by a later historian
and in fact Sultan Muhammad the
artist apparently spent two years
painting it.
So, you can imagine sort of again
the relationship of text and image.
For Sultan Muhammad this was
important enough for this manuscript
and we'll get to why in a minute.
But-- so he decided that you
know yes he was going to adhere
to what Ferdowsi says, but
he's going to elaborate on it.
I'm going to skip these.
So, whereas the rulers
of Muhgal India
or Ottoman Turkey commissioned
histories of their dynasties,
histories of their
reigns that illustrated
and described their personal
accomplishments in Iran.
It was the, "Shahnameh"
that was commissioned.
So, it almost became a royal
prerogative for every ruler as soon
as he came basically to power
he would commission a copy
of his own, "Shahnameh."
And this sort of continued
for centuries.
Okay, sorry I'm just-- so
to the question of why.
And it's really critical
to look at illustrations,
not only individual
illustrations of these manuscripts,
but also at the whole cycle,
because it's whole cycle
in these manuscripts
that give you the sense
of why particular scenes
were created.
Because every copy of the,
"Shahnameh" has different
illustrations,
different cycle of illustrations.
And when you start
deconstructing those you get a sense
of what is being emphasized and why.
Quickly going back to the,
"Muhgal Shahnameh," the,
"Muhgal Shahnameh" has
I don't know about six
or seven images of
figures enthroned.
They follow more or less the
same design and composition
that I'm showing you here, two
of those, so people sitting
on the throne with officers
and other people around them.
They show a great deal of
war and sort of action.
And when you look at the
cycle altogether one realizes
that there are more illustrations
of the Alexander cycle in the,
"Muhgal Shahnameh" than any
other, "Shahnameh" in existence
and we are talking about thousands
of, "Shahnamehs" that exist.
The, "Muhgal Shahnameh" has more
than any other copy
images of Alexander.
There are 14 in the,
"Muhgal Shahnameh"
and in all other ones
there may be two or three.
So, you know as an art historian
you say okay, what is going on?
And then, you look at well who
commissioned this manuscript?
It was the Muhgals.
Like Alexander the
Muhgals were foreigners.
They come, they conquer
and they knew that--
you know the tradition is
that you commission a copy
of the, "Shahnameh."
So, they want to in a way
use the, "Shahnameh" sort
of project themselves into the text.
They sort of want to insert
themselves into the text.
So, what do they do?
They focus on the story
of Alexander.
Alexander's great power, Alexander's
armies that fought and conquered
and the fact that Alexander as, you
know as is known conquered as much
of the sort of known
world as possible.
So, in the, "Muhgal Shahnameh" there
are numerous illustrations showing
Alexander at the end of the world.
I showed you the one where he's
building the wall of Gog and Magog.
Here he is at the end of the
world consulting the talking tree,
because again he wants
to stay immortal
and he asks the talking tree
how he can achieve immortality.
And basically the talking
tree tells him just go back.
We all will come to the same end.
But, what it does, it--
again it shows you the--
sort of the extent of
Alexander's kingdom and domain,
which is exactly the
same for Muhgals.
So, what they do is they
emphasize this particular story
in the, "Shahnameh."
So the, "Muhgal Shahnameh" becomes--
it's not only an illustrated copy
of the, "Shahnameh," but it
also almost becomes a reflection
of the Muhgal patrons.
Again two images, one showing
Alexander finds the monosarous
[assumed spelling], which
again sort of showing his power
and the other one Alexander
visiting the Brahmin sort
of again showing the
extent of his kingdom.
Now, the other manuscript, the,
"Tahmasp Shahnameh' the
story is slightly different.
In comparison the, "Tahmasp
Shahnameh" has only two
illustrations of the
Alexander cycle.
It begins with that wonderful
hallucinatory painting of the court
of Gayumars when the
world was created.
Now, it is called the,
"Tahmasp Shahnameh,"
because it was commissioned by
Shah Tahmasp the second ruler
of the Safavid dynasty
in Iran around--
the manuscript dates
from about 1520s to 1535.
So, while the Alexander cycle is not
emphasized there what is emphasized
in the, "Tahmasp Shahnameh" is
the early part of the story,
is the story of the evil Zahak.
And for-- this is actually--
this is an illustration.
It's a wonderful-- again,
let me show you the details.
This is an illustration of Jamshid.
Jamshid was this wonderful
king who created everything.
He created Nawroz.
He created the arts.
And so, during his reign everything
was wonderful, peace, prosperity,
happiness and then who appears
on the scene but the evil Zahak
who makes a pact with the devil
and as a result he's
got these two-- oops.
I lost-- I don't know
if you can see,
but he's got these two snakes
growing out of his shoulders
that he has to feed
brains of young women.
So, when we look at the
historical situation in Iran
at the time perhaps it's not so
surprising that Zahak is emphasized
in the, "Tahmasp Shahnameh,"
because this is the time
when the Safavids were in
constant battle with the Ottomans.
And the Ottomans-- the
Safavids established Shiaism.
They created a new dynasty and some
of the early illustrations
may be referenced to that.
It's a new world.
It's a new time with Shiaism
and with a new dynasty
that has united Iran.
But, who appears on the horizon?
Who is threatening Iran and
Shiaism are the Ottomans.
So, in the first part of the,
"Tahmasp Shahnameh" almost every
other illustration tells you--
is some episode from
the story of Zahak.
And the, "Tahmasp Shahnameh" has 256
illustrations and there are about 30
or so illustrations
devoted to Zahak.
So again, this emphasis tells us
something and it sort of seems
to be the obvious parallel with what
was going on at the time in terms
of the political and
historical environment.
And finally, there's sort
of wonderful painting
of Zahak being chained
at Mount Damavand.
Again, back to what the artist does.
You can see in this painting
the text now has been reduced
to these little sort
of little flags.
I mean it's almost
sort of secondary.
What has taken over is the painting.
And again, yes Ferdowsi sort
of describes Mount Damavand
and how they take Zahak
there, but nothing,
sort of this incredible
sort of mountainside
and with these clouds right above
it sort of really again adding
to the intensity of that
moment when this evil person,
this evil king is finally
chained and comes to his end.
And then, if you can sort
of see right at the bottom,
which I have no idea why that is,
there is a man playing
an instrument.
Again, is this to celebrate
the end of Zahak or what is it?
We don't know, but this is what
makes Persian painting so enchanting
and of course, I'm
a little prejudice.
But-- and the fact is
that every time you look
at the painting it
reveals something new.
And it's really sort of like
decoding every little part
and make a new discovery.
And it all sort of adds up and
it-- they are difficult to look at,
because they're quite
intense and small.
But, I really encourage all of you
to look at them as much as you can.
So, other than the old Zahak story
the other cycle that receives a lot
of attention is that of Zal
and the meeting between,
the final meeting between
Zal and some.
Zal who is an albino is
left in the mountains,
because his father was ashamed
of him, then he regrets it
and eventually comes back for
him and takes him back to court.
And Zal actually is
the father of Rustam.
So in the, "Tahmasp
Shahnameh" we don't have one,
but we have three images
of this story.
So again, you sort of
look at it and say why?
And you know I don't want to
read too much into these images,
but it is interesting to think
that as a young child Tahmasp
was sent away to Herat.
This was the tradition that
young princes were sent away
to a provincial capital where they
were trained away from the court
and then, when it was time for
them to rule or at least compete
for the throne, because
nobody was actually appointed,
they would come back to court.
But, we know that Tahmasp
sort of went to Herat.
He was not always very happy being
in Herat and one wonders the reason
that there are three images of
Zal being in the mountains whether
that has anything to do with Tahmasp
sort of being away from home.
Perhaps, perhaps not, but it seems
very strange to have three images
of the same scene in the manuscript.
And again, this-- I mean there
are descriptions of the scene,
but nothing, nothing the
way that is depicted here.
And incidentally, Ferdowsi never
actually tells us what the simorgh
looks like.
Simorgh is this wonderful legendary
bird that appears throughout the,
"Shahnameh" and he's the
one that takes care of Zal
and then you know comes to the
aid of Rustam when necessary,
etc. though we have no idea.
He doesn't-- he just says
it's this big you know sort
of fierce looking bird,
but we have no--
I mean he does not say that he's
got psychedelic colored feathers
and you know they're blue and red,
etc. So again, it's up to the artist
to fill in those gaps and add
his interpretation of the story.
As you know Rustam is a
major character in the,
"Shahnameh" so other than the Zal
story, Rustam also is highlighted
in the, "Tahmasp Shahnameh" here.
He is capturing his horse
Rakhsh who's almost as important
as the hero Rusam itself.
What is interesting in this story is
that actually Rakhsh
is much more sort of--
really sort of takes
center stage here as opposed
to Rustam who's trying to lasso him.
And Rustam continues to
play an important role
in subsequent illustrated
copies of the, "Shahnameh"
and at the same time
rulers past the,
"Tahmasp Shahnameh"
there were still,
"Shahnamehs" being illustrated
up until the 19th century.
Again, what happens is you
see reflections of a dynasty
or of a ruler into the
text sort of inserting--
these rulers inserting
themselves into Ferdowsi's text.
And I just want to end with
a painting here of none other
than the [inaudible] and who
is he depicting himself as,
as the great Rustam.
And it is ironic, because
this was exactly the time
when Iran suffered a crushing
defeat at the hands of the Russians.
But, rather than showing that
or just showing himself as ruler
as many other traditional portraits
of [inaudible] do show
him in great splendor.
I mean he's still pretty
splendid, but here he's shown
as a character from
the, "Shahnameh."
So again, the enduring power of
Ferdowsi's work sort of continues
and it continues to this day with
plays and other interpretations
of Ferdowsi's great masterpiece.
And on that note, thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Thank you Massumeh.
Now, we have time for about two
questions and actually Massumeh gets
to choose, but I will
select the first as Fatemeh.
[ Inaudible background question ]
>> Okay, before you answer
repeat the [inaudible].
>> Massumeh Farhad: The question
was whether artists were inspired
by each other's work and
whether there were repetitions
of certain themes and subjects.
Yes. I mean that's a very good
question, but absolutely yes.
When you look at especially sort
of the production of, "Shahnameh,"
which really goes into the
thousands and I'm really sort
of showing you the
creme de la creme.
I mean there are many, many
copies that were created for,
you know for sale to
not members of royalty.
So, when you do have such a level
of production inevitably
there is copying
and you see actually very similar
illustrations being repeated
over and over again.
But then, there are always
sort of slight changes,
because for one you
know the costumes change
or you know the artist
wants to show his own sort
of flair and originalities.
So, things are sort
of shifted around,
but there is definite borrowing.
And Persian painting like other
traditions builds on the past.
The sort of the western concept
of originality is different
from what occurs in
Persian painting.
You sort of build, you perfect
what somebody else has done
so you definitely draw on the past.
[ Inaudible background question ]
>> Massumeh Farhad: We're
beginning to study sort of colors
and just even from a technical point
of view how they were made and why,
etc. There really haven't
been any studies in terms
of whether certain
colors were chosen for--
to depict something special.
I think in many ways it depended
a lot on what was available.
I mean all the colors
and I didn't go into it,
all the colors are natural dyes.
They're all opaque water colors.
And the artist was responsible for
creating his or her own colors.
I mean if you, I mean for instance
with the, "Tahmasp Shahnameh"
when you see it the colors
are really thick and rich.
I mean they're-- some of
these paintings are impossible
to photograph, because
they are just--
somehow, I don't know
how it just doesn't work.
It doesn't translate into images.
Others are sort of thinner.
You know you may not have as much
money to provide the best colors.
So, I think there are other-- there
are probably other factors at play
and rather than sort of choosing
you know a particular color
for a particular emotion.
But for instance, you know with the
simorgh and his colorful feathers,
I mean again it goes
back to the repetition.
I mean once the sort of-- the image
of the simorgh was established more
or less the same colors have
been used over and over again.
So, I think it's more of that
than attaching a particular
color to an emotion or a--
>> [inaudible background comments]
>> Massumeh Farhad: Yes.
[ Silence ]
[ Inaudible background question ]
>> Massumeh Farhad: Um huh, um huh.
[ Inaudible background question ]
>> Massumeh Farhad: I
think if you invite me to--
for another lecture I'll address
that question and I'm going
to use my excuse that I'm
really an art historian.
So, I'm going to stick to the art
history sort of approaching it
from the art historical angle.
You are absolutely right.
I mean you know using-- when I
used Iran I didn't really mean it
in the sort of the sense of today.
I-- you know scholars use the term
Persianate world or greater Iran.
I think all of those
terms are problematic.
I think yes boundaries change.
And I by no means--
I mean you're right.
I think in many ways you know
the Samanids, which sort of--
I mean there are not only-- it was a
period where there was the beginning
of great literature, architecture,
metal work, you name it.
Today it's outside, strictly
speaking outside of Iran.
But, I think also to look
at the past through the lens
of today is not correct
and this is not what I was
by any means implying.
But, if somebody comes up
with a better word to refer
to the constant changing
of boundaries,
because you know it's very difficult
to tell for instance at this time
where the boundary was, because
it was all under the Abbasid.
So, I could say you know
it's the Abbasid dynasty
so I shouldn't even talk about the--
I mean yes, the Samanids were there,
but it was under the larger
umbrella of the Abbasid.
So, it becomes complicated,
but I agree.
It doesn't mean that it's Iran
in the current understanding
of the term.
>> [inaudible participant comments]
>> Massumeh Farhad: Sorry.
>> [Inaudible background question]
>> Massumeh Farhad: No, absolutely.
You know unfortunately we don't
have too many sort of accounts
of what really happened
in these courts
and these court workshops
until the 16th century.
For instance, there is a reference
that you know especially the female
art historians use all the time,
which is about the city of Shiraz
in the 16th century where apparently
in every family there was a female
painter, a male calligrapher
and the father would do the
illumination or something like that.
But, it certainly suggests
that women were painting.
But, exactly-- I mean to what
extent we really don't know.
We know for instance
in the 16th century,
actually Shah Tahmasp
the great patron,
his sister was a very
accomplished calligrapher.
And in fact, there are
examples of her calligraphy
in Istanbul in the Topkapi Library.
There are references to other female
painters as well in the histories.
Many of the princesses were
taught painting, calligraphy,
all the arts that the
princes were taught as well.
But, as most of the paintings
in these manuscripts are unsigned we
really don't know who painted them.
Signatures really sort
of came in, in the--
let's say in the late
16th, 17th century.
Even then it's not
you know consistent.
But, really before that you
can sort of count the number
of signatures you have on two hands,
so that's why it's difficult to know
who actually was responsible.
But, given the fact
that these paintings
or these manuscripts were produced
in public spaces, most of them,
I'm talking about the royal ones, in
public spaces and libraries attached
to the court the likelihood
of women being there is slim.
But, now with the commercial
workshops
where manuscripts were created
for a public, for a larger public
for export there probably
were women at work,
but again we can only sort of guess.
>> Okay, well we have time for
one more and since Fatemeh is one
of the principles we'll--
[ Inaudible background question ]
>> Massumeh Farhad: Actually, I see
a lot of humor in person painting.
It's-- and again it's-- sorry.
I think we're a very subtle
what do you call it, society
or a nation where-- and it's really
interesting how humor is included.
It's in places that
you don't expect.
It's not obvious.
It's not in your face.
It's a little touch here.
It's a little touch there.
It's almost sort of
subversive, but it's wonderful.
And then, when you discover it you
just love it and you keep looking
for it and that's the thing.
I mean the whole thing about
Persian painting is you have to look
at a painting over and over and over
again and it's really rewarding,
because you, you really discover
things and you discover humor.
I mean I know the person sitting
right behind you are conservative.
She came running to me one day,
because she was looking at a drawing
of this battle going on and you know
everybody was fighting each other
or whatever and she come, come
look at this little rabbit.
The-- there was a little rabbit
that was hiding in a hole
and it was just looking
out with these big eyes
at all these things going, you
know going on sort of above her.
You know I have been looking at
that drawing for years and Emily,
she was-- you know she was
cleaning and you know whatever
and she found the rabbit.
And we all went and we had a
good laugh and it was wonderful.
So, yes there is lots of humor.
>> Okay.
>> Massumeh Farhad: Okay.
>> End with that.
I'm afraid we have to close.
I want to thank you all for
coming and particularly I want
to thank Massumeh for a
wonderful and interesting lecture.
>> Massumeh Farhad: Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.