The wonders of creation and the singularities of painting : a study of the Ilkhanid London Qazvīnī / Stefano Carboni.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carboni, Stefano, author.

Series:

Edinburgh studies in Islamic art

Standardized Title:

عجائب المخلوقات وغرائب الموجودات. انكليزي

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad, approximately 1203-1283. ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt--Illustrations.

Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad.

London Qazvīnī--Illustrations.

London Qazvīnī.

British Library.

Islamic illumination of books and manuscripts.

Illumination of books and manuscripts, Ilkhanid.

Illumination of books and manuscripts--Arab countries.

Illumination of books and manuscripts.

Cosmography--Early works to 1800.

Cosmography.

Arab countries.

Local Subjects:

British Library.

Genre:

Early works.

Illustrated works.

Pictures.

Physical Description:

xix, 428 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm.

Other Title:

Study of the Ilkhanid London Qazvīnī

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2015]

Summary:

"The subject of this book is the so-called London Qazvīnī, an early 14th-century illustrated Arabic copy of al-Qazvīnī's The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existing Things, which was acquired by the British Library in 1983 (Or. 14140). As is commonly the case for copies of this text, the London Qazvīnī is lavishly illustrated, with 368 extant paintings out of the estimated original ca. 520. Its large format, ambitious illustrative cycle and the fine quality of many of the illustrations suggest that the atelier where it was produced must have been well-established and able to attract craftsmen from different parts of the Ilkhanid area. It also suggests that its patron was wealthy and curious about scientific, encyclopedic and 'ajā'ib literature, and keen to experiment with the illustration of new texts like this work, which had been composed by the author only two or three decades earlier. The only centre that was capable of gathering such artistic influences ranging from Anatolia to Mesopotamia appears to have been Mosul. The London Qazvīnī is an important newly surfaced document for the study of early illustrated Arabic copies of this text, representing the second earliest known surviving manuscript, as well as for the study of Ilkhanid painting. In a single and unique manuscript are gathered earlier Mesopotamian painting traditions, North Jaziran-Seljuq elements, Anatolian inspirations, the latest changes brought about after the advent of the Mongols, and a number of illustrations of extraordinary subjects which escape a proper classification."--Publisher's website.

Contents:

Part 1

Chapter 1 Al-Qazvlnl's Illustrated Text between Scientific and Narrative Literature 13

Chapter 2 The Illustrations of the London Qazvini: General Description 23

General features 23

Present condition of the illustrations 29

Colours 35

The vegetal foreground 38

Chapter 3 Selected Illustrations from the London Qazvini 48

North Jaziran/South east Anatolian evidence 48

Narrative illustrations 70

Distinctive animals 77

Distinctive recurrent details 85

Chapter 4 The London Qazvini in Relation to the Edinburgh al-Biruni and the New York Bestiary 107

The Edinburgh al-Biruni 107

A single illustration in the Diez Albums in Berlin 112

The New York Bestiary 115

Chapter 5 The Illustrations of the London Qazvini and Related 'Ajd'ib al-makhluqat Manuscripts 126

Analysis of the Table of Comparison 129

Interpretation of the Table of Comparison 146

Table of Comparison 149

Part 2

Description of the London Qazvini by Folio 175

Catalogue of the Illustrations of the London Qazvlnl 215

Key 1 Abbreviations of bibliography on flora 347

Key 2 Abbreviations of bibliography on fauna 349.

Notes:

Outgrowth of the author's thesis (doctoral--University of London, 1992) under the title: Wonders of creation and the singularities of Ilkhanid painting.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 400-421) and index.

ISBN:

9780748683246

0748683240

OCLC:

919015993

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description