SAFAVID QAZVIN, IRAN, 1544

The Haft Awrang, or Seven Thrones, was composed between 1468 and 1480 by the poet Jami, also known as Mawlana.
These three works of the same manuscript display traits one might expect of Shirazi painting of the period, such as the use of crowds of figures on balconies in the third illustration. However, the somewhat simplified compositions and lack of varied details are at variance with that attribution. Rather, the artists here are primarily interested in colour, employing it in bright blocks. We also find a demonstrable skill for narrative and sharp execution.
The manuscript from which these three illustrations came was noted by Walter Schultz in his major 1914 work on Persian painting (Die Persisch-islamische miniaturmalerei, Leipzig, 1914). The folio depicting Abraham was one of two used to illustrate the manuscript. At some time between 1914 and its appearance at auction in 1961 these three paintings were separated from the parent manuscript.
This group consists of the following illustrations:
1. A merchant buys a slave girl
2. Salaman in bed with Absal
3. Abraham being taught the dangers of idolatry