Persian school, ca.1900.

Persian school, ca.1900.
Nine illuminated pages from a Persian Qur'an.
On hand-painted paper.
Measurements: 20 x 11 cm; 30 x 21 cm (frame).

These miniatures, executed around 1900 in the context of the late Persian qajar tradition, are an interesting example of the survival of manuscript illustration in the Islamic world even after the generalization of printing. Although they come from a Qur'an (the book par excellence of Islam and usually treated with a non-figurative iconography) these illuminated pages seem to have been inserted as a courtly supplement, more for aesthetic devotion than for liturgical function, following a custom rooted in certain Iranian aristocratic circles.

The scenes depicted are far from Koranic content and belong to the profane iconographic repertoire of royal hunting, a motif deeply rooted in Islamic art since the Sassanid period. Hunting was understood not only as a noble pastime, but also as an allegory of good government, a symbol of control over the natural world and a projection of the monarch's power.