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Mongol Archer on Horseback
Signed (lower right) Muhammad ibn Mahmudshah
al-Khayyam
Iran, early 15th century
Ink and gold on paper
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung
(Diez A fol. 72, 5.13)
cat. 20
Photo: Ellwandt, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
[click on top image for full object view] |
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Although this drawing postdates the period of Ilkhanid
rule and instead belongs to the Timurid dynasty (1370-1507) its
subject is not a contemporary one.
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| For example, the rider's costume (including
his distinctive owl-feathered headdress) was no longer in fashion
at the Timurid court, although the imagery must have appealed to a
Timurid audience given the dynasty's claims to Mongol ancestry. |
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The artist, Muhammad ibn Mahmudshah
al-Khayyam, probably based his composition on an Ilkhanid work perhaps
preserved in an album. These albums, which were first assembled
in Iran in the fifteenth century, contained paintings, calligraphy,
sketches, designs, and stencils for transferring designs that served
as models and source materials for later generations of artists.
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