Persian art and architecture: The Safavid Dynasty

Under the Safavid dynasty (1499–1722) palaces were decorated with mural paintings, which have been heavily restored. Single-figure portraits and ink drawings were also made for the Safavids. In book illustrations, figures became sinuous, color and pattern ran riot, and, at best, the effect was that of ornate jewelry. A masterpiece of Safavid illumination was the Shah Namah of Shah Tamasp, which incorporates the greatest developments in painting of the early 1520s to the mid-1530s (published in facsimile as The King's Book of Kings, 1972).

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Later Developments
• The Safavid Dynasty
• The Mongol and Timurid Periods
• The Coming of Islam
• Parthian and Sassanid Contributions
• The Achaemenid Period
• Early Works
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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