Shahnameh-ye Davari; An Ode to a Dying Art?

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Shahnameh-ye Davari, dating to 1272 (1856) is one of the last Shahnamehs, copied and illustrated in the traditional style. It is kept at the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran under accession number 599. It is a sumptuously decorated manuscript on a par with courtly productions and has sixty-eight illustrations, yet it is not a commissioned work. It was created by Mohammad ibn Vesal (1822–1865), with the pen name Davari, a poet/calligrapher/illustrator/illuminator of little or no means and perhaps as an ode to a dying art. This article attempts to introduce the manuscript, placing it within the context of the artistic history of Qajar Iran (1789–1925).