Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād (c. 1455/60 – 1535), also known as Kamal al-din Bihzad or Kamaleddin Behzād ( fa, کمالالدین بهزاد), was a Persian painter and head of the
royal ateliers in
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
and
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
during the late
Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror:
* Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent
** Timurid Empire of C ...
and early
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
periods.
He is regarded as marking the highpoint of the great tradition of Islamic miniature painting. He was very prominent in his role as a director of a workshop in the Herat Academy as well as his position in the Royal Library in the city of Herat. His art is unique in that it includes the common geometric attributes of Persian painting, while also inserting his own style, such as vast empty spaces to which the subject of the painting dances around. His art includes masterful use of value and individuality of character, with one of his most famous pieces being "The Seduction of Yusuf”' from Sa'di's Bustan of 1488.
Behzād’s fame and renown in his lifetime inspired many during, and after, his life to copy his style and works due to the wide praise they received.
Due to the great number of copies and difficulty with tracing origin of works, there is a large amount of contemporary work into proper attribution.
Biography
Behzād’s full name is Ustād Kamāluddīn Be
zād.
His exact year of birth is unknown, and according to different sources, it varies from 1455 to 1460.
He was born and lived most of his life in
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
, a city in modern-day western Afghanistan and an important center of trade and the
Timurid Empire's cultural and economic capital.
Not much is known on Behzad’s childhood, but according to the author Qadi Ahmad, Behzād was orphaned at an early age and raised by the prominent painter and calligrapher
Mirak Naqqash Mirak may refer to:
*Mirak Bahadur Jalair, Mughal sardar of Sylhet
*Mirak (Star Fleet Universe), a race of beings in ''Star Fleet Universe''
*Mirak, Armenia, a town in Armenia
* Mirək, a village in Azerbaijan
*Mirak, Iran, a village in Kurdistan ...
, a director of the Timurid royal library.
Behzād was also a protégé of
Mir Ali Shir Nava'i, a vizier, poet, and humanist, and the in the court of Herat during the reign of Timurid Sultan
Husayn Bayqarah
Sultan Husayn Bayqara Mirza ( fa, حسین بایقرا / ''Husayn Bāyqarā''; June/July 1438 – 4 May 1506) was the Timurid dynasty, Timurid ruler of Herat from 1469 until May 4, 1506, with a brief interruption in 1470.
A skilled statesma ...
(ruled 1469–1506).
In several manuscripts issued in the 1480s in the Sultan Hussein Bayqarah's ''kitabkhana'' (library), Behzad's participation is seen, which evidences his work in the court in the period.
In 1486, with a decree of Sultan Hussein Bayqarah, Behzād was appointed head of the royal ateliers in Herat and succeeded Mirak Naqqash. Under his leadership, the academy reached its greatest period.
In 1506, Sultan Hussein Bayqarah died, and a month after his death, Herat was captured by the troops of the
Bukhara Khanate
The Khanate of Bukhara (or Khanate of Bukhoro) ( fa, , Khānāt-e Bokhārā; ) was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1500 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its ...
, led by
Mohammed Sheibani Khan. Some researchers believe that between 1507 and 1510, Behzād was in Bukhara, as he followed Sheibani Khan and other artists from Herat (although Babur reports that he was in Herat during those years).
Behzad's fame reached its zenith during this period. A fable states that during the
Battle of Chaldiran
The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia an ...
in 1514, in which the Ottoman Turks defeated the Persian army,
Shah Ismail I
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...
hid Behzād in a cave as a treasure.
In 1522, Behzād was employed by Shah Ismail I in Tabriz (the capital of the new Safavid Empire), where, as director of the royal atelier, he had a decisive impact on the development of later Safavid painting.
According to Muhammad Khwandamir, Shah Ismail I employed Behzād with a decree in which he described the painter as “...
miracle of our century, a model for painters and an example for goldsmiths, master Kemal-od-Din Behzad, who with his brush shamed Mani and humiliated the pages of Arzhang with his draftsman's pencil ...".
In 1524, Shah Ismail suddenly died. Behzad's later work is usually associated with the name of Shah Ismail's son, Shah Tahmasp I (ruled 1524–1576). Behzād continued to serve in the Shah’s workshop until his death in 1535.
Behzad’s tomb is located in Herat, beneath Kôh-i Mukhtâr (“Chosen Hill”).
Career and style
Behzād is the most famous of
Persian miniature
A Persian miniature (Persian: نگارگری ایرانی ''negârgari Irâni'') is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a ''muraqqa''. The ...
painters, though he is more accurately understood as the director of a workshop (or kitabkhāna) producing
manuscript illuminations
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
in a style he conceived.
[Roxburgh, David J., “Kamal al-Din Bihzad and Authorship in Persianate Painting,” ''Muqarnas'', Vol. XVII, 2000, pp. 119-146.][Lentz, Thomas, “Changing Worlds: Bihzad and the New Painting,” Persian Masters: Five Centuries of Painting, ed., Sheila R. Canby, Bombay, 1990, pp. 39–54.][Lentz, Thomas, and Lowry, Glenn D., ''Timur and the Princely Vision'', Los Angeles, 1989.] In 1486, Behzād became the head of the Herat Academy under the support of Sultan Ḥusayn Bayqarah. He left that position in 1506, at the end of Bayqarah’s reign.
In 1522, Behzād moved to the city of Tabriz, following
Tahmasp, son of Shah Ismail I, who had been named governor of Herat in 1514. It was in this city where he became the head of the Safavid royal library. He worked there until his death in around 1536.
Persian painting of the period frequently uses an arrangement of geometric architectural elements as the structural or compositional context in which the figures are arranged.
Behzād is equally skilled with the organic areas of landscape, but where he uses the traditional geometric style Behzād stretches that compositional device in a couple ways. One is that he often uses open, unpatterned empty areas around which action moves. Also he pins his compositions to a mastery at moving the eye of the observer around the picture plane in a quirky organic flow. The gestures of figures and objects are not only uniquely natural, expressive and active, they are arranged to keep moving the eye throughout the picture plane.
He uses value (dark-light contrast) more emphatically, and skillfully than other medieval miniaturists. Another quality common to his work is narrative playfulness: the almost hidden eye and partial face of Bahram as he peers out the blinds to watch the frolicking girls in the pool below, the upright goat that looks like a demon along the edge of the horizon in a story about an old woman confronting the sins of Sanjar, the amazing cosmopolitan variety of humans working on the wall in the sample image.
This surprising individuality of character and narrative creativity are some qualities that distinguish Bezhad's works and that match their literary intent. Behzād also uses
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
symbolism and symbolic colour to convey meaning. He introduced greater naturalism to Persian painting, particularly in the depiction of more individualised figures and the use of realistic gestures and expressions.
Behzad's most famous works include "The Seduction of Yusuf" from
Sa'di's
Bustan of 1488, and paintings from the British Library's
Nizami manuscript of 1494-95 - particularly scenes from ''
Layla and Majnun
''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya).
"The Layla ...
'' and the ''Haft Paykar'' (see accompanying image). The attribution of specific paintings to Behzād himself is often problematic (and, many academics would now argue, unimportant),
but the majority of works commonly attributed to him date from 1488 to 1495.
"The Seduction of Yusuf", a tale found in both the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
and the
Qur’an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...
, describes a series of interactions between
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
and
Zulaykha
Potiphar's wife is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. She was the wife of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard in the time of Jacob and his twelve sons. According to the Book of Genesis, she falsely accused Joseph of attempted ra ...
, the wife of Potiphar. This story had previously appeared in Sadi’s ''
Bustan'', written 200 years earlier. The mystical poet
Jami
Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī ( fa, نورالدین عبدالرحمن جامی; 7 November 1414 – 9 November 1492), also known as Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti, or simply as J ...
, who served in
Husayn Bayqara’s court, also narrated the events in details. The painting features both of their contributions; two couplets from Jami’s poetry are inscribed in white on blue around the painting’s central arch, while Sadi’s poem is etched in the cream-colored panels at the top, middle, and bottom of the page.
Jami claims that the narrative is set in a place that Zulaykha built and embellished with sensual portraits of herself and Yusuf. Doors were locked as she escorted the apprehensive Yusuf from room to room.
Here one observes architecture as a means of dividing space, creating the possibility of reading space as time. The duration of the viewer’s experience of the image is emphasized in this composition. The variety of places present, however, defines the piece of art or architecture. The continuity of these spatial zones, each of which enters into the distinctive atmosphere of each monument is of utmost importance. The narrative continues when Zulaykha and Yusuf enter the innermost chamber. He escapes her hands as she throws herself at him. The seven locked doors suddenly open, and help him avoid being seduced by her. The most dramatic part of the story is depicted in the picture by Bhizad, when the helpless Zulaykha reaches out to grab Yusuf.
Once again, architecture serves as the medium for this effective visual narrative. The painter’s decision to use a monoscenic composition and to make all regions visible to the eye allowed for the inclusion of the most possible narrative elements. If we contrast Jami’s words with Bihzad’s illustration, we can see that one is an allegory of the soul’s quest for heavenly love and beauty, and the latter is an invitation to mystical contemplation. All of the stylistic features included help the artist communicate something. The magnificent palace is a representation of the material world; the seven rooms represent the seven
climes
The climes (singular ''clime''; also ''clima'', plural ''climata'', from Greek κλίμα ''klima'', plural κλίματα ''klimata'', meaning "inclination" or "slope") in classical Greco-Roman geography and astronomy were the divisions o ...
; and Yusuf’s beauty is a metaphor for that of God. Moreover, the absence of a witness in the painting has the purpose of showing Yusuf’s devotion to God. He could have yielded to Zulaykha’s fervor, but he realized that God was all-seeing and all-knowing. This image surpasses both the literal standards and the prevalent mystical elements in modern literature and society.
Legacy
One of Behzād’s lasting influences stems from his proficient depiction of humans and other organic motifs, bringing new depths to his painting’s narratives and characters. Behzād’s human figures were less stiff in their stances and more dynamic in their movements, creating a greater sense of energy and emotions to the paintings.
Likewise, Behzād utilized a method of painting that relied upon geometric formulas and a flattening of the visual plane to present the whole narrative in one painting and ensure the viewer’s eyes would move across the entire painting.
Behzād’s technical mastery was coupled by a keen artistic eye as he was able to create a visually complex but compelling scene.
The fluidity of Behzād’s compositions reflect his capacity to create a realistic scene by reducing it to the most important elements. It is not to say that Behzād created unrefined works, rather, what he did choose to include was masterfully rendered and ripe with emotion and a masterful control of the brush and color.
Behzād’s reputation was well-founded within his own lifetime with nearby rulers, such as the Mughal emperors, being willing to pay large sums for his paintings further adding to his fame and legacy.
With such a prestigious Behzād came to be a central figure to the Herat school of painting, eventually becoming the head of the Herat academy in 1486 and leaving in 1506.
As the head of the Herat academy he held large influence over the students, influencing the styles and techniques of future generations of Persian painters. Behzād’s fame and artistic renown would inspire imitation or other artists to learn from his paintings as well as more formally Behzād had large authority over the production of manuscripts, and thus their appearance.
Within contemporary times much of the scholarly focus has been upon ensuring correct attribution to Behzād as there are concerns that some previously attributed works may not be from Behzād. With certain works attribution can be relatively confident from properly dated and placed signatures, but others were attributed in the 16th century and only contain stylistic similarities to Behzād’s works. Thus, raising questions of whether some works are skillful imitations, or if they are genuine.
Behzād in literature
Behzād is mentioned throughout
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over thirteen million books in sixty-three lan ...
's novel, ''
My Name is Red
''My Name Is Red'' ( tr, Benim Adım Kırmızı) is a 1998 Turkish novel by writer Orhan Pamuk translated into English by Erdağ Göknar in 2001. Pamuk would later receive the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. The novel, concerning miniaturists in ...
'', in which a workshop of Ottoman miniaturists regards him as one of the greatest Persian miniaturists.
Gallery
Behzad timur egyptian.jpg, Battleground of Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
and the Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
of Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
Kamal-ud-din Bihzad - Construction of the fort of Kharnaq.jpg, The construction of castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
Khavarnaq (Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
الخورنق) in al-Hira
Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq.
History
Kingdom of the Lakhmids
Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre-Is ...
, c. 1494-1495 C.E.
Bihhzad 004.jpg, A miniature painting by Bihzad illustrating the funeral of the elderly Attar of Nishapur
Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; fa, ابو حامد بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn () and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a PersianRitter, H. ( ...
after he was held captive and killed by a Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
invader.
Yusef Zuleykha.jpg, Yusef and Zuleykha
Bihhzad 003.jpg, A miniature painting from the Iskandarnama
Bihhzad 002.jpg, A miniature painting from the Iskandarnama
Behzad hunting ground.jpg, The hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
ground.
Bihzad-beheading.jpg, Beheading of a King
Behzad soltan hossein right.jpg, Sultan Hussein
Timur granting audience on the occasion of his accession (right).jpg, Timur granting audience on the occasion of his accession
Dance of Sufi Dervishes.jpg, Dancing dervishes (c. 1480/1490)
File:Behzad_portrait_of_a_dervish.jpg, Portrait of a dervish
See also
*
Persian miniature
A Persian miniature (Persian: نگارگری ایرانی ''negârgari Irâni'') is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a ''muraqqa''. The ...
*
List of Persian painters
Classical era Classical Persian painter
* Kamaleddin Behzad
* Reza Abbasi
* Farrukh Beg
* Mihr 'Ali
Modern era
A
* Aghapour, Shahla
* Aghdashloo, Aydin
* Alikhanzadeh, Samira (1967– ), painter
* Alivandi, Bahram
* Arabshahi, Massoud ( ...
*
Behzād on the French Wikipedia
*
Begzada
Begzade (Kurdish language, Kurdish), Beyzade (Turkic), and Begzadići (Slavic), Beizadea (Romanian), Begzadi (female) are titles given within the Ottoman Empire to provisional governors and military generals who are descendants of noble households ...
Notes
References
*Balafrej, Lamia. ''The Making of the Artist in Late Timurid Painting'', Edinburgh University Press, 2019,
*Brend, Barbara, ''Islamic Art'', London, 1991.
*Chapman, Sarah, “Mathematics and Meaning in the Structure and Composition of Timurid Miniature Painting”, ''Persica'', Vol. XIX, 2003, pp. 33–68.
*Grabar, Oleg, "Mostly Miniatures: An introduction to Persion Painting" Princeton, 2000
*Gray, Basil, ''Persian Painting'', London, 1977.
*Hillenbrand, Robert, ''Islamic Art and Architecture'', London, 1999.
*Lentz, Thomas, and Lowry, Glenn D., ''Timur and the Princely Vision'', Los Angeles, 1989.
*Lentz, Thomas, “Changing Worlds: Bihzad and the New Painting,” ''Persian Masters: Five Centuries of Painting'', ed., Sheila R. Canby, Bombay, 1990, pp. 39–54.
*Mehta, Suhaan. 2016. “Tradition and Tolerance.” Religion & the Arts 20 (3): 336–54. doi:10.1163/15685292-02003004.
*Milstein, Rachel, “Sufi Elements in Late Fifteenth Century Herat Painting”, ''Studies in Memory of
Gaston Wiet Gaston Wiet (18 December 1887, Paris – 20 April 1971, Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a 20th-century French orientalist.
Biography
Wiet graduated from the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, and with a law degree, was boarder at ...
'', ed., M. Rosen-Ayalon, Jerusalem, 1977, pp. 357–70.
*Rice, David Talbot, ''Islamic Art'', 2nd ed., London, 1975.
*Rice, David Talbot, ''Islamic Painting: a Survey'', Edinburgh, 1971.
*Robinson, Basil W., ''Fifteenth Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues'', New York, 1991.
*Roxburgh, David J., “Kamal al-Din Bihzad and Authorship in Persianate Painting,” ''Muqarnas'', Vol. XVII, 2000, pp. 119–146.
External links
Video from the Asia Society, US
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behzad, Kamaleddin
Persian miniature painters
Painters of the medieval Islamic world
1450s births
1535 deaths
People from Herat
15th-century Iranian painters
16th-century painters of Safavid Iran
People from the Timurid Empire
16th-century Iranian painters