Illustrated Manuscript of a Divan of Hafiz

The enormous wealth and attention directed to the arts of the book in sixteenth-century Iran can be seen in this elaborate book binding and the elaborate illustrated pages, which were removed long ago from its text block. A heightened interest in illustrations, particularly of poetic texts, drove the development of a distinctive art form popularly known as Persian miniature painting. In Islamic books, figural representation had usually been confined to the inside of a manuscript, where it could be enjoyed privately. As this beautiful book cover demonstrates, artists in the early Safavid period pushed figural imagery to the outside as well. Here Safavid courtiers—recognizable by the red baton of their turbans—enjoy refreshments, while winged angels carry covered trays. The cover is executed in a medium known as Persian lacquer, an extension of the miniature-painting technique of opaque watercolor and gold on a paper substrate. The painted cover was completed with a coating of clear lacquer. This manuscript and the lacquer binding was created in the early sixteenth century for the Safavid prince and bibliophile Sam Mirza, brother of Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524–76), the dynasty’s second ruler.