A King Picnicking in the Mountains

This lavish work depicting a king and his courtiers picnicking in a mountain glade is a definitive example of Safavid manuscript painting from the late 1500s. The painting illustrates a scene from the Khamsa, or Five Poems, by Nizami (c. 1140–1203), one of the greatest poets in Persian literature. The exquisite marginal drawings of animals in the midst of lush gold foliage, the finely detailed and lyrically dynamic composition, and the decorative use of color define Safavid court aesthetics. Since Safavid court artists occasionally worked for the Mughal rulers in South Asia, this style of painting influenced Islamic court painting in that region too. For example, the Mughal painting Majnun in the Wilderness (c. 1600), which appears on page XX, displays mountain forms similar to these.