Miniature Painting Research Articles

Gender and Dance in Modern Iran: Biopolitics on Stage

Gender and Dance in Modern Iran: Biopolitics on Stage

Circus at the edge of Europe: acrobatic entertainments in the Ottoman Empire

ABSTRACTThis article considers the nature of acrobatic performances in Ottoman Turkey, as represented in illustrated records of circumcision ceremonies. The circumcision of the sons of the Sultans Murad III in 1582 and Ahmed III in 1720 were the occasions for weeks of festivities, including parades and presentations by guild craftsmen, interspersed with other entertainments, such as music, dancing and various acrobatic entertainments. These two circumcision ceremonies were documented in lavishly illustrated histories, part of a growing tradition of Ottoman historiography, consisting of exquisite miniature paintings accompanied by text.Although a century and a half separate these two celebrations, the snapshot they present of entertainments indicate both the continuity of types of acrobatic performances and their development. The illustrated records of these celebrations also reveal acrobatic traditions that combine performances familiar in early modern Europe and which continued into the development of the early modern circus, alongside performances that are now usually associated with the Chinese acrobatic tradition.

Viewing Stones: A Virtual Exhibition

Viewing Stones:A Virtual Exhibition* Paul A. Harris (bio) and Richard Turner (bio) The term "viewing stones" is primarily associated with two traditions of stone appreciation: Chinese Gongshi (or scholar's rocks) and Japanese suiseki. Today, viewing-stone associations around the world take inspiration from these traditions and are creating new ways of displaying stones. Petraphiles, whether ancient or contemporary, are often drawn to express their appreciation of favored stones in writing. The Petraphiles represented in this virtual exhibition are diverse in their expressions of geo-affection. They are, by turns, both scholarly and poetic. In each entry there is a sense of discovery. Thomas Elias finds his Liaoshan Green Stone talking to him about the vicissitudes of life. Kemin Hu's research on a Kun stone led her unexpectedly to the original owner of the stone. Joseph Roussel's Wen stone reveals its elusive character in the play of light falling across its convoluted surface over the course of a day. Go And Catch A Falling Star (Odessa, Texas), Rick Stiles's tiny meteorite fragment, speaks to him of the vast scale of the space/time of our universe. Richard Strassberg finds new meaning in a stone that has been in his possession for decades when he recontextualizes it in an antique Chinese stone basin. In the course of a stream-of-consciousness rant about an ungainly stone in his collection, Richard Turner begins to understand the Chinese standards of stone appreciation: zhu (clumsy), chou (ugly) and guai (grotesque). [End Page 68] Paul A. Harris Pierre Jardin is an internationally acclaimed rock-gardener and stoned-thinker based in Long Beach, California. His works of Outside Art include The Garden of Slow Time (2016, Loyola Marymount U. campus) and "Igneous Ligneous Inosculations," installations exhibited at the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2018). As Paul A. Harris, he is Professor of English at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and co-editor of SubStance. His recent work includes collaborative readings and a coauthored story with David Mitchell (forthcoming in C21 Literature), and his current projects are "Stone is the New Green" and Viewing Stones: Contemporary Approaches to Display (co-authored with Thomas P. Elias and Richard Turner). He blogs at The Petriverse of Pierre Jardin. Richard Turner Artist/curator Richard Turner is a Professor Emeritus at Chapman University, where he taught Asian art history and studio art. He lived in Vietnam from 1959–1961. He studied Chinese painting in Taiwan in 1963–1964 and Indian miniature painting in Rajasthan in 1967–1968. He has worked as a public artist for over three decades doing projects in the western United States, ranging from water treatment plants and light rail to memorials and sacred art. He has curated three exhibitions of viewing stones displayed alongside works of fine art. A selection of his studio work, public art and curatorial projects can be viewed on his website, turnerprojects.com. Footnotes * The Viewing Stones Exhibition may be accessed at http://substancejournal.sites.lmu.edu/home/supplements/rock-records Copyright © 2018 Johns Hopkins University Press and SubStance, Inc.

Portraiture and Politics: Royal and Devotional Allegiances in the Paintings of the Garh Mahal, Jhalawar

This article analyses a selection of portraits that decorate the apartments of the Garh Mahal, a royal palace located in the city centre of Jhalawar in southern Rajasthan. The paintings were executed in two distinct periods: the first set dates from the time of Maharaj Rana Prithvi Singh (r. 1845–75) and can be dated to the mid-1860s; the second one was commissioned by Maharaj Rana Bhawani Singh (r. 1899–1929) between 1918 and 1921. The purpose of this investigation is to highlight the evolution and the peculiar ways in which the rulers of Jhalawar, who belong to the Jhala Rajput clan, visually manifested their legitimation to power and reinforced their political relevance after attaining independence from Kota in 1838. Their ideologies and aspirations are revealed by precise stylistic strategies and carefully assembled dynastic groups of portraits. In the dynastic groups, Jhala rulers are juxtaposed with other Rajput monarchs and Pushti Marg religious figures to emphasize royal and devotional connections. The first group of portraits focuses on anachronistic royal affiliations executed in ‘Rajasthani’ style, a visual idiom not attributable to a specific school of painting and suggesting, therefore, a Rajput social and political cohesion. The second group highlights Bhawani Singh’s relationship with his contemporaneous royal peers and Nathdwara religious figures. This set of portraits was executed by a team of painters supervised by the famous Ghasiram Hardev Sharma of Nathdwara (1869–1931). The murals display a variety of visual idioms, including the traditional Nathdwara miniature painting style, ‘photographic aesthetic’, and Victorian academic realism.

Didactic Visual Narrations in Nepali Manuscript Illuminations

Manuscript illuminations are the early forms of traditional Nepali paintings. Manuscript illuminations are the miniature paintings found in the manuscripts, the handwritten religious texts and treaties on ethics. Such paintings tell the mythical stories in visual form. Some manuscript illuminations present the characters and events in such a way that they tell moral stories using visual medium. Sometimes, the contents appear in the form of fable. The animals are personified, for they act and behave like a human being. In some cases, the visual narration is allegorical in the sense that one set of characters, setting and events stand for other characters, place and activities. Although some characters are animals and supernatural beings, they reflect on this world, human beings and objects in the world. Such paintings explore real world, human experiences and moral values through strange, unusual and de-autometized art forms. The paintings attempt to create moral order in the then contemporary society. This article traces such issues and themes in narrative paintings found in manuscripts like Vishnudharma, Shivadharma, Devimahatmya, Pancaraksa, VesantaraJataka and Hitopadesa.

La miniatura come documento storico: le celebrazioni di Saptasvarupa Annakutotsava al Tempio di Śrī Nāthjī a Nathdwara nel 1822

This article highlights the importance of a prominent festival, the Saptasvarupa Annakutotsava celebrated in Nathdwara in 1822, through an iconographic analysis of a miniature painting dated to 1822–1850 in the lacma collection. First, the essay delimits the area of investigation by briefly introducing the sect of Puṣṭi Mārg, its icons or svarūps, and the installation of its most important deity, Śrī Nāthjī, at Nathdwara in 1672. Secondly, it analyzes the festival of 1822 as depicted in the painting. The final part of the study underlines the significance of the celebrations in the history of the sect by contextualizing the event with information drawn from secondary literature: it introduces some well-documented issues, such as the absence of the svarūp of Bālkṛṣṇajī in the celebrations; it mentions some of the problems that Dauji, the head priest of the temple, had to overcome in the coordination of the festival, such as settling the disputes among the gosvāmīs of the sect; and it concludes with a comparative analysis of the Saptasvarupa Annakutotsava with two similar festivals held in Nathdwara in 1739–1740 and 1966 to emphasize the preeminence of the event of 1822 in the history of Puṣṭi Mārg.

Analytical evidences of the use of iron-gall ink as a pigment on miniature paintings

Iron-gall ink (IGI) has been used by scribes for writing since at least the 4th century CE. Another typical use of this ink was for drawing: many Old Masters created beautiful sketches in brown-black hues. Despite its widespread use to draw lines, it seems like IGI was hardly used for painting as well. In fact, the number of identification on manuscripts is very low at present. This could be partially due to a lack of reliable diagnostic information. In this work we tried to better define the possibility of identifying IGI as a pigment on illuminate manuscripts, evaluating the pros and cons of three different techniques: UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optic fibres (FORS), Raman spectroscopy and XRF spectrometry. With concern to in situ non-invasive analysis, Raman spectroscopy has the best diagnostic power but FORS seems to provide the better compromise between selectivity and ease of application. Moreover, new analytical evidences was given on the particular use of IGI by ancient illuminators: a non-invasive and micro-invasive diagnostic survey on Western manuscripts datable in the range 6–16th centuries was carried out showing that, apart from its widespread use as an ink for writing and drawing, IGI was largely used as a pigment too. The large number of identification obtained allows us to hypothesise that this pigment was used all through medieval Europe up to at least the Renaissance, where its use is already documented in drawing.The occurrence of IGI in miniature paintings older than 6th century or more recent than 16th century cannot be excluded, as is its use beyond Europe; further measurements could instead widen the time range and the geographic area. Nevertheless, the present study allows shedding a new light on the use of this colourant all along the period of medieval and Renaissance miniature painting art.

Graphics and Global Dissent: Marjane Satrapi'sPersepolis, Persian Miniatures, and the Multifaceted Power of Comic Protest

Marjane Satrapi'sPersepolishas been embraced by critics and popular audiences alike as an accessible intercultural memoir-in-comics that challenges predominant Western stereotypes about Iran through the universality of its first-person narrator. But the text's global legibility goes beyond the familiarity of Satrapi's graphic avatar. In examining the surprising factors on which the text's globalism depends, I look closely at one ofPersepolis's diverse inter-texts—the Persian miniature painting—and situate Satrapi in both Parisianbandes dessinéesand Iranian diasporic artistic contexts to argue that the work's concurrent production of local, national, and global scales is inseparable from its connection to several genres and across several media, engaging its readers through multiple modes of perception.Persepolisdraws on a global history of graphics as dissent by challenging preconceived notions about comics as a mass culture form, memoirs as limited confessionals, and Iranian women as silenced victims of an oppressive fundamentalist state. The global accessibility of this graphic novel exists not despite but because of porous categories of genre and culture, which are at once integral to its narrative structure and secondary to the aesthetic of protest that it ultimately embraces.

Study of Materials and Techniques for the Conservation of Two Miniature Paintings

This research includes a study on the conservation of two miniature paintings produced by unknown artists and probably dated to the second half of the 18th century. These paintings are registered at the Museum of Helwan University, Faculty of Applied Arts, Giza, Egypt, No. (A) of 100/6.This research also includes a historical and artistic study of the paintings. To study the materials and techniques used in their execution, several methods were used. XRD, XRD-EDAX was used for the examination and analysis of inorganic materials; in the case of organic materials, FTIR, UV was used to identify the pigment materials, glue, varnish, isolation layer or condition of the paper support. The oil medium in the paint layer was identified by the GLC method. Cross sections of both paintings were examined to find out about the technical knowledge used in constructing the painting / pictorial layers.Finally, this research involves a study of how to separate two oil paintings executed on one paper support, and the most important procedures needed to carry out this step, as well as those necessary for reconstructing the painting layers. In addition, a new method is described to treat cracks.Another new method was used to protect the paper support of these paintings from high relative humidity. This research also proposes a new tear mending method for paper objects instead of the traditional methods used in international paper and manuscript conservation laboratories.

Ragamala Miniatures in the Collection of the State Museum of Oriental Art: An Attempt at Attribution

The article is devoted to nine Indian miniatures from the collection of the State Museum of Oriental Art (Moscow). The aim of this study is to provide an academic description of these items, and to clarify their attributions. All the works in question have been thoroughly studied: the author conducted an iconographic, textological and stylistic analysis of the objects. He also looked for compositional and stylistic analogues among the miniature paintings (mainly from foreign collections), published in catalogues, monographs, articles, and on the Internet (on the websites of museums and libraries); the items identified were carefully analysed. On the basis of the abovementioned study, the author identifies nine sheets in the collection as miniatures of Ragamala series; in some cases it is also possible to clarify the time and place of their creation. Ragamala is a unique phenomenon of medieval painting of Hindustan, representing a visualisation of Indian musical modes. The musical material is embodied by the depiction of scenes that may contain motifs similar to those found in Baramasa ( Twelve Months ), Nayaka-Nayika (types of the heroes and heroines of classical drama), and other series of Indian miniature painting. This fact leads to closer attention to iconographic schemes and signatures of the items discussed. This article summarises a five-year study of the authentication of Ragamala miniatures in the collection of the State Museum of Oriental Art.

Restoration project of the mural paintings of the Dragomirna Monastery Church

"The main Church of the Dragomirna Monastery has its nave and altar decorated mural paintings which date back to as early as the early 17th century. These were created in the affresco technique, with areas completed in mezzo fresco, and extensive gilded surfaces. There is a wide diversity of stone-carved elements– flowers, ribs, torsade embossing, sculpted and painted shields, which cannot be found in any previous mediaeval churches in Moldavia. These elements complete the iconographic programme of the painting, which spans over 22 registers, differentiating and defining the uniqueness of Dragomirna. A series of degradations due to infiltration, which occurred over time in the upper part of the nave and the base of the bell tower, led to the architectural restoration of the Church in the ‘60s. The mural painting is first restored 400 years after its creation. The complex works were possible through the implementation of a project funded by the European Union between November 10th 2010 and February 15th 2012.The ample restauration and conservation process of the 900 square meters of mural painting highlighted its amazing original appearance and its artistic elements influenced by the techniques and chromatics of miniature painting. The interventions have been carried out in accordance with the international standards of conservation and involved a team of 50 specialists. The project ‘Dragomirna Church’s 17th Century Frescoes,Suceava, ROMÂNIA’ has been among the winners of the 2014 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in the ‘Conservation’ category. The project has received the Grand Prix and the Public Choice Award. "

Творческий уровень освоения мстёрской лаковой миниатюрной живописи в вузе: типичные трудности и методы их преодоления

Analytical review of the typical difficulties of students of secondary vocational education and higher education (bachelor course) in the study of Mstyora lacquer miniature painting at the creative level of development is presented. It is noted that the artistic activity of young professionals, expressing themselves in creative activity and affecting the current state of the art of Mstyora, is determined in general by iconographic direction. The research urgency is caused by necessity of revealing the ways of preservation and development of unique art of Mstyora lacquer miniature painting, which is an integral part of the national artistic culture, in the framework of the professional education in this field. It is noted that in secondary vocational education one cannot in full formulate those qualities which will enable the graduate to independently solve the task of creating a holistic artistic image. Therefore, the continuation of education at bachelor course is considered a good opportunity for creative development of the future specialist. However, the author shows that at this time there is a trend in downwarding students’ interest to achieve the highest point of creative development. The causes of the problem and ways of its overcoming are discussed: removal or leveling.

Art and Gender in the Contact Zone – European Women and Indian Miniature Painting

Art and Gender in the Contact Zone – European Women and Indian Miniature Painting

Rāgiṇī Bhairavī. A Case Study of Select rāgacitras from the Miniature Paintings of Mewar (16th–17th Century C.E.)

Rāgiṇī Bhairavī. A Case Study of Select rāgacitras from the Miniature Paintings of Mewar (16th–17th Century C.E.)

Social Criticism in Hariri’s Maqamat with a Focus on Al-Wasiti’s Miniature Paintings

“Hariri’s Maqamat” is one of the most prominent and sophisticated books of Arabic literature in the Middle Ages that has been influential in the formation of novel stories in world literature. Apart from the beauty of the style, literary tune and various educational aspects, it presents social life and human behavior in the Arab world of the Middle Age in terms of a visually narrative format. Hariri’s Maqamat is a long illustrated story in Baghdad School which has been composed by Hariri and then illustrated by Mahmoud al-Wasiti. Al-Wasiti’s miniature paintings provide a lot of visual information about people’s behavior and their environment. This research aims at understanding social criticism scheme in that time by cooperation of text and image. Accordingly, several Maqamat and miniatures, which included more social information, were selected and considered using descriptive analysis technique. The results showed that al-Wasiti has clearly discovered Hariri's social critical viewpoint behind the complex language and emphasized that idea. He has also added some information which it would not be easily understandable by a reader of Maqamat book without applying pictures.

Influence of Sikh lifestyle on Guler miniature paintings

Influence of Sikh lifestyle on Guler miniature paintings

On the Chemical Signature and Origin of Dicoppertrihydroxyformate (Cu2(OH)3HCOO) Formed on Copper Miniatures of 17th and 18th centuries.

A corrosion product rarely reported in the literature has been found on the copper support of three miniature paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries. This product, which has been identified as dicoppertrihydroxyformate (Cu2(OH)3HCOO), is an unusual basic copper formate found on copper artifacts. The identification and characterization of dicoppertrihydroxyformate was carried out directly over the corroded surface of the objects, using a nondestructive approach, which combines the integrated use of various microanalytical techniques. Using this approach, it was possible to obtain a set of new reference data about the natural form of Cu2(OH)3HCOO, that will enable its unambiguous identification in other similar objects. In this work, the probable causes that may have contributed to its formation are also discussed.

Two Armenian Bibles with Arabic Influences of miniature painting (Gregor Tatevatsi 1346-1410)

About a century ago, Armenian illuminated manuscripts attracted the attention of scholars and lovers of art. Since that time intensive studies of medieval Armenian art had been conducted a unique historical panorama of the art of illumination, embracing more than thirteen centuries has been given.The heritage of a number of miniature schools and their outstanding representatives has been studied; the significance of medieval Armenian painting in the history of world art has been revealed. Although, most of them illuminated, many have not yet been published. Among the best examples of medieval Armenian illumination are those of the following two manuscripts, where the researcher published (28 miniatures) from the Gospel of folios paper in Matenadaran of Mashtots, for the first time: 13th, dated (1297) and (1378), the miniatures were executed by Grigor Tatevatsi and his pupil in (1378), and15th, dated in the end of 14th century and beginning of 15th century, the scribe is Grigor Tatevatsi and the anonymous painter of Syuniq. The research deals two Armenian bibles with Arab Influences by Grigor Tatevatsi (1346–1410), it begins with an introduction for Armenia with a focus on Syuniq which produced the two manuscripts, and includes three sections:1st. Study of Armenian miniatures with a focus on Grigor Tatevatsi school, where the proportion of miniature paintings, his pupil or anonymous painter of Syuniq.2nd. Analytical study.3ed. The influences of the Arabic miniature painting.

Kobiecość przekształcona. Indyzacja i europeizacja kobiety w strefach kontaktu na przykładzie malarstwa miniaturowego XVI–XIX w.

The subject of the article is an analysis of how images of European women were adapted in Indian miniature painting created under the patronage of Muslim and Hindu rulers during the period from the 16th to the 19th century. The term contact zone was used to identify areas where two cultures – in this case, Indian and European – met and the interactions between them. This would seem relevant for a analysis of these complex multicultural relations and this article will focus on two issues – art and gender. The analysed works bring together some fundamental issues – they were created for a local recipient, not the coloniser. Therefore, they reveal the reactions of a local artist created for a local patron. By analysing the representations of European women, or those modelled on them, one may observe the following process of their assimilation into an Indian form: familiarsing themselves with a foreign femininity and technique by copying and then adapting it to an Indian theme and then the Indianisation of European women and the creation on this basis of a new type of Indian woman Images of European women also affected how Indian women were portrayed. So this contact had two main dimensions – European ladies were subjected to Indianisation, while the Indians underwent a kind of Europeanisation.

The Impression of Enclosure in Persian Garden Design

The presence of enclosure has been a significant characteristic of Persian gardens in Pre-Islamic and Islamic eras. This concept is also reflected in Persian ate miniature painting where buildings are enclosed by a light fence or a wall. In some cases, especially house gardens, the wall looks much stronger, probably to protect the security of the enclosed area. The organic arrangement of natural elements in the garden associated with the pavilion, however, is in contradiction to the presence of the enclosure. It can be said that in numerous paintings, water is not enclosed anymore, but it is the building (and the paved area close to it) that is covered by a transparent barrier or a well. Traditional Iranian towns highly appreciate the sense of privacy in their old building. For centuries, Iranian houses were divided into two parts “Inside” and “outside”, in which family members solely used the first part while guests used the latter as well. Despite the importance of privacy in traditional Iranian culture, Iranian people were not isolated, and social contacts had an importance. In Persian garden can see two barriers: the decorated wall which separates the urban fabric from the garden and the fence which separates the paved area intended for sitting from the planted area. In this subject, it is appealing to see that these two enclosures divide the main frame into three layers of story in which three different groups of figures are located.