Author
Sheikh Abbasi
Author Original
شيخ عباسي
Publication Date
Hijri 1065/AD 1654/1655
Publication Place
Iran -
Rietberg Museum
Subject
Watercolor and gold on paper
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الأبعاد الكلية 17 × 26 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
RVA 1039
Record ID
object;EPM;sw;Mus21;4;ar
Library Location
Rietberg Museum
Date
Hijri 1065/AD 1654/1655
Notes
The painting, dated 1065 AH (1654 / 1655 AD), commemorates a meeting that took place in 1618 AD between Shah Abbas I (r. 996-1038 AH / 1587-1629 AD) and the Indian ambassador. We know that later in the year the Safavid ruler received both the envoy of the Mongol ruler Jahangir (r. 1014-1037 AH / 1605-1627 AD) Khan Alam, and envoy of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah Golconda (reigned 1020-1035 AH / 1612-1626 AD), an emirate in the Deccan region. Sheikh Abbasi based his painting, of which three other contemporary copies are known, on one of the works of Bishandas (or one of the copies Al-Adeida).Bichandas accompanied the embassy and photographed the Shah and the ambassador with their entourage sitting in a forest. Since Shah Abbas II (ruled 1052-1077 AH/1642-1666 AD) sent an ambassador to Golconda in 1065 AH (1654/55 AD), it cannot be ruled out that the miniature of Sheikh Abbasi was a diplomatic gift. If this assumption is correct, they must have been painted after his death to commemorate the meeting between Abbas I and the Golconda ambassador. In Sheikh Abbasi's works, references to India play a prominent role. In almost half of his works he depicts Indian men and women. It can also be shown that he used motifs from the Indian visual language and was familiar with Deccan painting techniques.
Sample Text
Axel Langer “Persian miniature mounted as an album page” in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;sw;Mus21;4;ar
