TheAllegoryofDrunkenness
andtheTheophanyofthe
BelovedinSixteenth-Century
Illustrationsof √Æfiæ
MichaelBarry
Anintensely‘Ḥāfiẓian’ambiencepermeatedtheentiretraditionofminiaturepaint-
ingingreaterPersiaduringthefourteenththroughseventeenthcenturies,butfew
studiesyetexistoftheerotictheologyandmysticalsymbolismthatsustainedthe
aestheticpremisesofthistraditionandunderpinnedlaterPersiancodedconven-
tionsofmanuscriptillustrationundertheJalayirid,Timurid,TurcomanandSafavid
dynasties.^1 Thisisespeciallytrueofthefourillustrationsdiscussedbelow,twoof
whichdirectlyillustrateaghazal^2 fromthemostbeautifulknownmanuscriptofthe
Dīvān, probably produced for Prince Sām Mīrzā, brother to Shāh Ṭahmāsb, in
Safavid-ruledHerāt(inpresent-dayAfghanistan)in1526/7AD.^3
Thefirstpainting,whichwasexplicitlycreatedbywayofillustration–homageto
Ḥāfiẓ,wastheworkoftherenownedminiaturistShaykh-Zāda,probablypaintedin
Herātcirca1526or1527AD.Scholarshaveentitledthisminiature,quiteappropri-
ately adorning the cover of the present volume devoted to the theme of the
‘ReligionofLove’inḤāfiẓ’spoetry,asIncident in a Mosque.Hereweseeapreacher
addressingthefaithfulinconventionalwords,whileamemberofthecongregation
intuitivelygraspstheinnertruthofthesermon’swords,andfallsintomystical
ecstasy.However,Shaykh-Zāda’spaintingisnotan‘illustration’,butratheran
evocationofthecontrastbetweenorthodoxpreachers,whodefendtheoutward
practicesofreligion,andecstaticSufiswhoperceiveitsinnertruth,whichḤāfiẓ
drawsthroughouttheDīvān.Thepainterintendstoconveythegeneralmood,and
symbolicthrust,oftheDīvānasawhole.
AstheoutstandingconnoisseurofPersianartwhoonceownedandpublishedthis
picture,thelateStuartCaryWelchconsidereditthecrowningachievementof
Shaykh-Zāda,adiscipleofthegreatTimuridandearlySafavidmasterBihzād(ca.
1465–1535AD).AresidentofHerāt,Shaykh-Zādacontinuedtoworkfaithfullyin
Bihzād’smannersomeyearsafterBihzādhimselfhad,ineffect,retiredfromactive
painting.Bihzād,in1526–7,wasofficiallystillgrand-masteroftheSafavidrealm’s
craftsmenofthebook(eversincehisappointmenttothisprestigiouspostbyShāh