THE AGE OF MUHAMMADI

Shah Isma`il's (r. 1501-24) emphasis on educating his sons in the fine arts together with the activation of the royal library-atelier for the great Shãhnãma project promised an ever expanding horizon for the future of Persian painting. But Sha h Tahmasb's (r. 1524-76) early disenchantment with painting, followed by the precipitated death of his brothers cut short all such prospects. Then, as the second generation of princes led by the talented patron-prince Ibrahim Mirza (1540-77), was about to revive the royal library-ateliers, the house of the Safavids was hit by the devastating fratricide launched by Isma`il II (1576-78). By the time Isma`il II was in turn assassinated, only the blind prince Muhammad and a few very young princes were still alive. And yet, Persian painting continued to flourish as new modes of expression were tested and attempts were made to brake the molds of classical painting. The initial assault was led by Mirza `Ali and Shaykh Muhammad in the Mashhad atelier of Ibrahim Mirza. But it was the painter Muhammadi who channeled the revolutionary style of these two masters into a calligraphic mode that harmonized Persian painting with the flowing patterns of Persian poetry; a mode subsequently adopted and popularized by the celebrated Riza `Abbasi.