This painting is a minature from a manuscript. It seems like it is divided in two parts and the down part is divided again in two parts. In the part at the bottom, there are four characters that seem to be visiting: two on the left are examining a paper while drinking a few beverages that are present in front of them and two on the right seem to be playing instruments while enjoying oriental beverages also. At the center of the representation are the two characters: they are slightly bigger than the other ones. On the left there is a man serving a beverage which seems to be tea and on the right a woman sitting on a pillow and apparatenly waiting for her tea. Her head is turned toward the man as if they are conversing. I suppose they are also visiting. All these characters are sitting on a carpet and oriental objects as candles and dishes are gathered around them. Then in the top part, there is a huge door and at the top of this door a window. From this windown, a woman seems to be hiding behind a curtain, observing the scene below her. The entire painting is colorful and full of details as for the carpets and the walls.
The artist has realized here a work with an isometric perspective. Indeed, there are no converging lines or fixed points and the viewpoints are aerial and earthbound combined so that the scene can be depicted in its totality as God might see it. This representation has a religious purpose, it is here to illustrate a story present in a religious manuscript. Indeed, it is also dreamful and help the author telling its story through imagination and dreams.
"[...]The miniature is of very high quality, and the treatment of the dome and pavilion, with the designs picked out in gray and white, is original and effective."
Prince Bāysonghor's Niẓāmī: A Speculation
Ars Orientalis
Vol. 2, (1957), pp. 383-391
Vol. 2, (1957), pp. 383-391
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