Page from a Persian illustrated manuscript, depicting two women speaking to one another. 

Overall Size: 12 1/2 x 9 in. 

Sight Size: 8 x 5 in. 

#5037 #24d . 

A Persian miniature is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa. The techniques of this genre are broadly comparable to the Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. Although there were Persian traditions for painting murals and other larger depictions, the survival rate and state of preservation of miniatures is much better, making them the best-known form of Persian painting in the West. Miniature painting became a significant genre in Persian art by the 13th Century, receiving Chinese influence after the Mongol conquests (directly alluded to by the name Mughal), and the highest point in the tradition was reached in the 15th and 16th Centuries. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey and the Mughal miniature in the Indian subcontinent. Persian art under Islam is of particular interest to scholarly studies because it never completely forbade depicting the human figure, which in the miniature tradition are central subjects, often in large numbers. This was partly because the miniature is considered a private art form, kept in a book or album and only shown to those the owner chooses, rather than large-scale public art which could be defaced or covered over. As well as the figurative scenes in miniatures there was a parallel style of non-figurative ornamental decoration which was found in borders and panels in miniature pages, and spaces at the start or end of a work or section, and often in whole pages acting as frontispieces. In Islamic art this is referred to as “illumination,” and manuscripts of the Quran and other religious books often included a considerable number of illuminated pages. The designs reflected contemporary work in other media, in later periods being especially close to book-covers and Persian carpets, and it is possible that many carpet designs were copies of illuminations for books created by court artists that were sent to workshops in the provinces, where most of the rugs were made.

Spotting throughout.