Persian Painting: Five Royal Safavid Manuscripts of the Sixteenth Century (Paperback)

by Stuart Cary Welch (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller (May 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807608130
• ISBN-13: 978-0807608135
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #671,202 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite images from a civilization ignored by the West, January 24, 2002

By	Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Mention the words "Safavi" or "Safavid" to people in the West and you will most likely get a blank stare in return, but this Iranian dynasty presided over a great cultural flowering in literature and architecture as well as in art. Stuart Cary Welch produced a beautiful introductory guide to some of the beauties of that era, taking illustrations from several famous books and collections of the 16th century height of Safavid glory. While the political history of the time in Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan (all parts of the Persian world in a cultural sense) was full of battles, massacres, sieges and sudden changes of rule-very much like Europe at the same time-the delicacy of Persian art knew no bounds. Brilliant, jewel-like colors, striking designs, and bold displays of mythical heroes touched in gold and surrounded with the miniature figures of the Persian court world appear on the pages of this book that is guaranteed to satisfy. Chinese-style rocks and trees mingle with Islamic calligraphy and Persian legends. While this book reproduces the illustrations both in full and in detail, the text is only the slightest of introductions to what can be a consuming study for any lover of art at its greatest. Buyers of this book will want to look further. May I suggest Anthony Welch's two books "Artists for the Shah" and "Shah `Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan", "Persian Drawings" by B. W. Robinson, and "Persian Painting" by Basil Gray. Another related volume, a treat for anyone interested in Persian art, would be "Isfahan: Pearl of Persia" by Wilfred Blunt and W. Swan.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, accessible introduction to an exquisite artform, March 7, 1999

By A Customer

Stuart Cary Welch is an art historian (I think he taught at Harvard, but I'm not sure) who loves his work, and it clearly shows in this volume. The pictures are exquisite, the reproductions are beautiful, but the best part is the commentary: his only goal is to make the work -- and the stories the pictures tell, for they are all essentially book illustrations -- as much a pleasure to the audience as it was to him. He could not wear his learning more lightly nor with more enthusism, and yet it is clear he must know everything there is to know about this culture. Right after you get this, you'll immediately go right back to Amazon to get a copy of the Shah-Nama, the marvelous epic Iranian poem that so many of the splendid miniatures in this volume illustrate.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Suggestion a good surce, March 26, 2006

By	Persian Bookshop (IraniBook.com) - See all my reviews

This is a good book on this subject. But, I'd like to suggest a very good source of Persian (Farsi) books on the net: www.iranibook.com & www.iranibookshop.com You will find any Farsi books in this feild.