Text and Image in Persian Art: From the Samanids to the Safavids (Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art) - Hardcover

Blair, Sheila

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0748655786 ISBN 13: 9780748655786

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Greater Iranian art from the tenth to sixteenth centuries contains some of the finest, most technically complex achievements in the history of world art. Intellectually engaging, art from Greater Iran showcases the power of merging texts and vibrant imagery, creating lively, highly expressive verbal and visual expressions. Focusing on objects found in the period's main media, Sheila S. Blair follows artisans' play with form, material, and decoration to engage their audiences, and she traces the reception of these objects over time. She ultimately connects our present understanding of these works to our conception of an Iranian past. Lavishly illustrated in color, the volume centers on four genres: ceramics, metalwares, architecture, and textiles, exhibiting a variety of Persian examples. Written by the world's foremost expert on Persian art, it captures both the thrilling visual and verbal interactions of a multilingual society and the phenomenal transformation of everyday objects into art.

About this title

About the Author

Sheila S. Blair is Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College. She is also the author of Islamic Calligraphy.

From the Back Cover

Investigates the interaction between word and image in medieval Persian art through a series of case studiesTechnically some of the finest produced anywhere, the artworks created in greater Iran from the tenth to the sixteenth century are also intellectually engaging in showing the lively interaction between the verbal and the visual arts. Focusing on five objects produced in the main media used during this period (ceramics, metalwares, architecture, illustrated manuscripts, and textiles), this beautifully illustrated study shows how artisans played with form, material, and decoration to engage and "speak to" their audiences. It also shows how the reception of these objects has changed and demonstrates that their present context – whether on a museum shelf or in the middle of an excavation – has implications for our understanding of the past. Each chapter begins with a careful study of the object and moves to broader theories of function, reception, and display.Key Features•Includes over 100 colour illustrations of the objects and buildings explored in the text•Studies five different media: ceramics, metalwares, architecture, illustrated manuscripts, and textiles•Looks at what happened to the objects since production and the impact of their current display•Gives a nuanced view of Persian art in the context of Iranian historySheila S. Blair is Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College and Hamad Bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has written and edited numerous books on all aspects of Islamic art, including Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006).Cover image: Humay After His Wedding © The British Library Board (Add. 18113, f.45v).Cover design: Cathy Sprent.[EUP logo]www.euppublishing.com

Edition details

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0748655786
• ISBN 13: 9780748655786
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304