Art, Love and Jewels. Treasure of the Iranian Shahs in the “Shahrazad” Ballet

Abstract

Using the framework of the plot and staging peculiarities of the recent ballet sensation — “Scheherazade” to the music of Nikolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov, the author gives detailed characteristics and provides the history of the most significant treasures of the Iranian crown. The author researches the origin and the location of two parts of the famous pink ‘table’ diamond — the Big Diamond Tablet, divided into two parts (Darya-i-Nur and Nur-al-Ain), the history and stages of making the wedding tiara and the coronation headdress of Farah Pahlavi are traced. The article provides information on the origin and storage of the most iconic treasures of the Iranian crown after the Islamic Revolution — starting from the throne on which Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was the last to sit, to the two most famous shah’s crowns — the Kiani crown and the crown of the last Shah. The author especially notes the importance of the interpretation of precious artifacts in the ballet, staged by Alexei Miroshnichenko, to awaken the interest of the Russian public in the culture and art of Iran.