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Lot Essay
The miniatures are as follows:
1. Mihr and Mushtari visit a hermit in a cave
2. Mihr and Mushtari about to be executed before King Shapur
3. Mihr killing the lion
4. Mihr asleep with his head on the lap of Princess Nahid
5. Two Princes receive instruction
6. A king riding in procession across a hillside
The story of the platonic love between Mihr (the Sun), the son of legendary ruler Shahpur, and the court vizier's son Mushtari (Jupiter) is a well-known poem with strong pre-Islamic themes. The illustrations in this manuscript though produced at Shiraz show Tabrizi influences, particularly clear in the scene depicting the near execution of Mihr and Mushtari in the presence of Shahpur. In this scene Shahpur sits together with Mihr and Mushtari on a raised throne typical of Tabrizi illustrations, before a wall decorated with confronted blue hares on white ground, also a Tabriz feature. Lale Uluç traces these influences back to the migration of artists from Tabriz to Shiraz in the 1530s. By the mid-16th century many of these Tabriz style features had become incorporated into Shirazi manuscripts. For a discussion on Tabriz influences in Shiraz painting from the 1530s onwards see Lale Uluç, Turkman governors Shriaz artisans and Ottoman collectors: Sixteenth Century Shiraz Manuscripts, Istanbul, 2006, no.89-90, pp.138-142.
1. Mihr and Mushtari visit a hermit in a cave
2. Mihr and Mushtari about to be executed before King Shapur
3. Mihr killing the lion
4. Mihr asleep with his head on the lap of Princess Nahid
5. Two Princes receive instruction
6. A king riding in procession across a hillside
The story of the platonic love between Mihr (the Sun), the son of legendary ruler Shahpur, and the court vizier's son Mushtari (Jupiter) is a well-known poem with strong pre-Islamic themes. The illustrations in this manuscript though produced at Shiraz show Tabrizi influences, particularly clear in the scene depicting the near execution of Mihr and Mushtari in the presence of Shahpur. In this scene Shahpur sits together with Mihr and Mushtari on a raised throne typical of Tabrizi illustrations, before a wall decorated with confronted blue hares on white ground, also a Tabriz feature. Lale Uluç traces these influences back to the migration of artists from Tabriz to Shiraz in the 1530s. By the mid-16th century many of these Tabriz style features had become incorporated into Shirazi manuscripts. For a discussion on Tabriz influences in Shiraz painting from the 1530s onwards see Lale Uluç, Turkman governors Shriaz artisans and Ottoman collectors: Sixteenth Century Shiraz Manuscripts, Istanbul, 2006, no.89-90, pp.138-142.