Unknown Persian Epic Adventure. (copy second half 14th) Persia
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Taken from: The Diez Albums: Contexts and Contents by Julia Gonnella, Friederike Weis, and Christoph Rauch.
R. Hillenbrand, 'The Image of the Black in Islamic Art: The Case of Painting', in The Image of the Black in Afric……
https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/suche?category%5B0%5D=Islamische%20Handschriften&queryString=Diez&fulltext=&junction=¤t_page=1
The five Diez albums (=Diez Album folio 70-74) in Berlin, acquired by Heinrich Friedrich von Diez in Constantinople around 1789, contain more than 400 figurative paintings, drawings, fragments, and calligraphic works originating for the most part from Ilkhanid (1), Jalayirid (2), and Timurid (3) workshops. They were taken out of their “parent” albums at the Topkapı Palace (in Istanbul).
It is this painting of an audience with a ruler in a tent and attended by an African that made Claus-Peter Haase in his essay: Royal Insignia in the Periods from the Ilkhanids (1) to the Timurids (3); decide that this was part of an adventurous epic.
The scene depicts an enthroned monarch to whom four kneeling figures and one seated man are offering their respects by stretching out their open hands to him. Among these well-dressed courtiers an African, naked but for a loincloth, who strikes a discordant note. The company he keeps makes it unlikely that he is a slave, indeed, this image may well depict the reception of grandees from various parts of the world. But his nakedness, taken in conjunction with the double gold bangles round his neck and upper arms and his lack of any headgear, underlines his otherness and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he is allotted a lower station than his companions. (Diez album folio 70 p3)
This is a typical frontispiece (4) design showing a young turbaned ruler enthroned. Two attendants hover to his left. The Ruler gives a winecup to a kneeling African guest which he receives in court while an African band swings unusual rhythms. The musician farthest to the left plays on a rabab (5) with a long neck. It is not clear what his nearest companion is doing. The kneeling guest wears a necklace; bangles encircle his wrists, and a scarf is draped over his arms. All four Africans have bare torsos and knee-length skirts with oversized white eyeballs and woolly hair. (Diez Album folio 71 p13)
Most probably part of the same story. The ceramic inscription on top is nearly identical to the one on the previous painting: The Kingdom belongs to God. A woman is binding a sleeping man with in the foreground food and drinks for two. Perhaps she made him drunk first. (Diez album folio 71 p9)
A surprise attack in
a palace; a group of armed men burst into a room full of Africans and kill them. Two heads severed from the Africans roll across the floor, two more Africans are being throttled, their hands
desperately clawing the air, while a third falls back as the death dealing weapons descend and another tries to flee, to no avail. Their eyes start out of their heads in panic. Only one of the
four Africans being killed is in full armour, but caught unaware, he sprawls helpless on the floor. All this suggests that this was a surprise attack. Its context is unknown. The painting may
depict the rescue from their black jailers of the six prisoners at center stage (two of them bound), who mutely watch this murderous scuffle. Also note in front of the hole group (under right) a
way smaller adult, painted and dressed in different style, maybe added by another hand. (Diez Album folio 72 p. 22 ) Less sure this drawing is part
of the same story.
(Diez Album folio 71 p 22)
Taken from: The Diez Albums: Contexts and Contents; The Depiction of Horses in the Diez Albums by Barbara Bren.
This last painting is also probably part of the story. It shows the submission of a burning city in which a number of Zangis have been beheaded. That at least was the description given by Barbara Brend. She argues on p301 that at least this last picture is identifiable. The depiction of a three-eyed horse immediately calls to mind Ashqar Devzad, who appears in the fantastical epic concerning the deeds of Amir Hamza, (6) the uncle of the prophet Muhammad. Ashqar’s father, Arnais, is a demon in the form of a horse and his mother, Laneesa, a fairy. …….. The Diez picture does not correspond to incidents depicted in either of these works. … so it is likely that the epic has a lost branch in which Ashqar has a greater role. From a different picture in the Diez album she gives an example.)
(1) Ilkhanid: Dynasty whose core territory lies in what is now part of the countries of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.
(2) Jalayirid: was a Persianate Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia.
(3) Timurid: dynasty (1370–1507) based in Persia and Central Asia.
(4) Frontispiece: is a decorative or informative illustration facing a book's title page.
(5) Rabab: is a lute-like musical instrument.
(6) see my webpage: Hamzanama 15th.