Drawing and Layout

There are two distinct types of layout used in 16th century Persian illumination. There are stylistic elements that are common to both, but the layout is different depending on formality.

• The more formal option involves intricate decorated boxes for special words and simpler boarders (or 'carpet style' borders) of geometric and stylized foliate patterns with one or two decorative medalions in the outside margin. This style (pictured left) seems to be used mostly for holy writings and serious literature.
• The other style (pictured below) is the one I'm most concerned with, the style that involves detailed minatures with lighter boarders and is used for romantic literature and poetry.

All of the works I examined with minatures included colored bands around the main ‘box’ of the illumination frequently red, blue, gold, yellow or green ¹ called “jadval”. This serves to obscure and emphasize the boundary between the miniature and the border or frame. It is possible on some of the extant manuscripts that the border or frame was cut from a separate sheet of paper, frequently, however, the decoration of the miniature bleeds out over the edges of this frame indicating either it is a single piece of paper or that the frame-breaking elements were painted in after the fact.

There was a fashion during the Safavid period for single figure studies; particularly of handsome youths or beautiful maidens². Most often these figures had very little in the way of background; some had a ground to stand on with plants while others simply float in space. I suspect some of these portraits on colored backgrounds are actually on tinted papers.

Right is pictured a rare find; an incomplete manuscript from the Rylands collection (MS 9 it is a 15th century work and shows the more contained layout style of that century) showing the red chalk under-drawing before paint and ink are applied. Red chalk is a material that was used for drawing throughout Europe as well, it was mined as a mineral and is very similar to red ochre pigment. Modern "sanguine" pencils are available at most reputable art supply stores. Other choices for drawing are to sketch in ink or to use black chalk. Metalpoints were used in Europe at this time and may have been used in Persia as well, but I have yet to find evidence thereof.

Note the diagonal lines for calligraphy in the border; this motif for calligraphy continued into the 16th century and indeed sometimes whole pages were done with the calligraphy on a 45 degree angle (particularly for short poems).