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Ismā‘īlin1522AD),butthejeweller’sprecisiondemandedbysuchminiaturelabour
strainedtheeyesightandshortenedthepracticalworkinglifeofthesemeticulously
painstakingartistsofthesixteenthcentury.Shaykh-ZādaperpetuatedBihzād’s
classicalHerātīstylewiththevivid,gemliketintsofhislittlefigures’robesthatleap
totheeye,andalmostdanceagainsttheflat-patternedbutintricategeometryof
themosque’sdeepbluearchandcarpeting–geometrybroughttolifethrough
sheervigorouscolour.
Onlyscale,asoftenremarked,distinguishesthepainter’sminiaturegateway
fromitsmodel,oneofthesoaringtiledarchesofHerāt’sFridayMosque.Classical
Persianpainting’sboldjuxtapositionsofprimary,unshadowed,highlycostlyhues–
derivedfromcinnabar(red),orpiment(yellow),malachite(green)andpowdered
lapislazulirinsedinlinseedoil(ultramarine)–withinaboldgeometricframework
thatpowerfullyignoresforeshorteningprovokedtheadmirationofMatisse.
CloserinspectionrevealsShaykh-Zāda’sexpressivelydrawnfaces,reflections
againofBihzād’sprobinglessonsinpsychologicalrendition,andalsofourinscrip-
tionschargedwithsymbolicmeaning.Theupperleft-handcornerframestheverses
oftheghazalwhichthispaintingspecifically‘illustrates’orrathervisuallycom-
mentsupon.Butthe‘tilework’inscriptionoverthemainarch,andasecondinscrip-
tionrunningacrossthelintelabovethewindowtotheleft,quotefromtwootherof
Ḥāfiẓ’sghazals:indicationsthatthepainterwasdeeplyversedinallḤāfiẓ’spoetry
andwishedtoaddressseveralthemesatonce,themesrecurrentthroughoutthe
Dīvānandregardedasimportantinsixteenth-centurytradition.
Theallegoricalkeyunlockingtheintentofmanyfifteenth-andsixteenth-century
Persian and then Indo-Islamic manuscript illuminations lies in such deliberate
resort,bythepainters,todirectvisualallusionstothematterofanother poem,or,
indeed,tooutrightverbal quotations from another poem,oftendiscreetlyinsertedas
calligraphicbandswithinthearchitectural‘tilework’(asisthecasehere),inorderto
throwfurtherspirituallightuponthepoemorepisodeostensiblyillustrated.
CarefullydecipheredPersianandIndianmanuscriptilluminationsofthisperiod
thusofferuspointedcommentaries–notonlyvisuallythroughdrawingandpaint,
buteveninastrictlyliterarysensewithfurtheraddedverses–ofthemajorpoets
oftheIraniancanon.Theseartisticcluesshouldprovenolessprecioustousthan
thewrittenglossesoftheage’smostlearnedscribes.Ḥāfiẓ’sdeepermeanings,
asunderstoodbypaintersfarmoresteepedthanourselvesintheirowncultural
tradition,appearfurtherrevealedinthewrinkledbrowsandquizzicalglancesof
Shaykh-Zāda’stinybutmovinghumancharacters.
MartinDicksonidentifiedthepainting’sinscription,inhispersonalcommunica-
tiontoS.C.Welch’scitedworkonSafavidpainting,^4 wheretheupperleft-hand
cornercontainsacoupletfromḤāfiẓwhichreads:
Vā‘iẓānk-īnjalvadarmiḥrābuminbarmīkunand,
Chūnbikhalvatmīravand,ānkār-idīgarmīkunand!ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry