As part of my research I've taken an interest in Persian miniatures, which according to Wikipedia, are usually illustrations inspired by poetry written about Persia's pre-Islamic history and mythology. I found copies of two Persain miniatures that I have questions about.

The first is Persian Army, painted in 2002 by Haydar Hatemi. When I first saw it I thought it was a hunting scene and that the unbearded rider was a woman. Now that I realize it is an army scene, I wonder. Are there stories about female warriors in Persian literature and mythology? I am going to the library today to take out the Shahnameh, which may answer my question.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/marcialouu/army2002.jpg

The second is of a person, maybe a woman, riding on some kind of enclosed chair. Does anybody know a word for this? Unfortunately the picture is tiny, so it is impossible to get a sense of the nature of the seat and whether the rider is holding onto reigns and actually in control of the horse.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/marcialouu/travel.jpg

Please add your own pictures of miniatures as well as resond to my questions.

Marcia

No idea lol Sorry. :)

As you said these are inspired but not accurate potrayal of pre-Islamic Iranian customs... The illustrations commonly related to the Shahnameh were added during the Safavid era in Iran (1502 - 1736ADe). The Safavids were basically Turks and the local artists drew these, inspired from Shahnameh stories BUT with Turkic traditions/customs in mind as a gesture to their rulers, flatering them. So they are far from accurate as they show Iranians looking like Turks, dressing and performing Turkic customs rather that Iranain ones

The more accurate illustrations are by artists like Mahmoud Farshchian who are modern artists but as more accurate historical information was available to them plus an Iranian ruler who stressed the importance of pre-Islamic Iran (Pahlavi's) the paintings are more realistic...

Examples taken from the tale of Rostam (by various artists)

http://www.persianartsfestival.org/Rostam.jpg

http://www.arashabdi.com/images/rostam%20va%20sohrab3.jpg

Of course this is a different style of painting.. info http://www.iranchamber.com/art/articles/qahveh_khanehei_painting.php

Plus there are the amazing sculptures illustrating scenes from the Shahnameh in Ferdowsi's tomb

http://encyclopedia.quickseek.com/images/Tus_shahnameh.jpg

Oh also we have this thread

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=350515

Which is kinda dead but there are a few good examples there..

Thanks Shugs,

I've looked at the sites and the other thread and will check up on the references. The style is quite different from what is typically called Persian miniatures.

Marcia

Here is a painting by Mahmoud Farshchian of Sohrab and Gurdafarid that caught my attention . It looks like a good story goes with it. If it's in the Shahnama, I will read it eventually.

Marcia

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/marcialouu/sohrabgurdafarid.jpg

Other images of Iranian miniature art

http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/chogan_s.gif
http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/ferdosi_s.gif
http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/0292min1.gif
http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/0292min2.gif
http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/0292min3.gif
http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/0292min4.gif
http://persia.org/Images/Miniature/0292min5.gif