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The history of Persia goes back some three
thousand years. Indeed, modern Iran is regarded as one of the cradles of
civilisation. For three thousand years the land was ruled by various dynasties,
indigenous as well as Greek, Arab, Mongol and Turkish. Their traces and their
influence can be traced in the rich cultural heritage of this remarkable region.
The Hermitage in St Petersburg has an excellent
collection of art objects from Persia. It includes many interesting pieces
covering the whole of Persian history from antiquity to the end of the Qajar
dynasty (1785-1925). From 31 March to 16 September the seventh exhibition at the
Hermitage Amsterdam will present nearly 200 works from this rich culture, among
them the famous Sassanid silver and the enchanting Persian miniatures. This is
the first time that such a wide-ranging overview of Persian art has been seen in
the Netherlands.
Fragment of a
bas-relief with a depiction of a
Persian Warrior. Stone,
5th century BC.
(22,3 x 20,2 cm), Cat. No. 3.
The exhibition begins with the first important
dynasty of the old Persian empire the Achaemenids. They, above all, left their
mark on the country. With their immense wealth they built roads, canals,
splendid palaces and temples adorned with sculptures and bas-reliefs. One
example, a fragment of a bas-relief from the rich city of Persepolis (cat. 3),
is among the highlights of the exhibition. All this monumental architecture and
art served but one aim: the glorification of the dynasty. It was not by chance
that the Achaemenids used images borrowed from the once all-powerful Babylonian
Kingdom: the bull, the lion and the griffin
Figure of a griffin. Gold, 4th century
BC (8,5 x 5,2 cm), Cat.No. 11
At the edges of the Persian Empire nomadic peoples
also left traces. This area later became part of the Russian Empire, so the
spectacular finds from excavations are now part of the Hermitage's collection.
These nomads from the Scythian Empire built monumental burial mounds known as
kurgans. Remarkably, the first excavations date from the time of Peter the
Great, and indeed these 18th-century finds represent the earliest archaeological
collection in Russia. The costly gold objects were kept in the first museum in
Russia, the Kunst Kamera. The exhibition includes some of these spectacular
finds, such as an extraordinary gold griffin (cat. 11). In the second half of
the 4th century BC, the Achaemenids' weakened state was conquered by Alexander
the Great. Greek influence is clearly visible in the great cultures of the
Parthians and the Sassanids. The Sassanids in particular excelled at making
elaborately worked silver objects, often decorated with hunting scenes. In the
exhibition there are magnificent dishes from the 3rd century AD.
Tile.
Faience, 19th century (24,2 x 32,5 cm), Cat. No
197
Art from the early Middle
Ages
With the advent of Islam in Persia, the vocabulary of art changed.
The Hermitage Amsterdam displays the finest examples of Persian art from this
period. They include highlights from the collection of bronzes, such as the
remarkable incense burners in the shape of a cock (cat. 39) from the 11th
century. Naturally, there is also earthenware. One of the finest exhibits is the
ensemble of 22 frieze tiles from the mausoleum of Pir Husayn dating from the
13th century (cat. 52-73).
Cock-shaped jug. Bronze 11th
century
(Height 36 cm), Cat. No.
39.
Persian miniatures
This
extraordinary and delicate Persian art has been admired in Europe since the 19th
century. The great age of miniature painting was the 15th and 16th centuries.
Making these manuscripts was an important art at the court. Countless princes
and rulers commissioned miniatures, which were often part of complex book
manuscripts. In them we find the fairy-tale world of the Thousand and One
Nights: a poetic world in which all is beauty and harmony depicted in splendid
types of paint in unusual combinations. In the 15th century the fairy-tale look
was replaced by images that were closer to the truth: artworks about individual
characters with realistic details, taken straight from everyday life. From the
16th century miniatures on separate sheets became the principal creative field
for Persian painters. In total, nearly forty miniatures and book manuscripts may
be seen at the exhibition in the Hermitage Amsterdam. Because of their
fragility, they will be changed halfway during the
exhibition.
Two Lovers. Oil on
Canvas, beginning
19th century (131,5 x 77 cm), Cat. No.
178
Art of the 15th to the 18th
centuries
Two rooms in the exhibition are devoted to the flowering of
Persian art between the 15th and the 18th centuries. Remarkable Iranian ceramic
dishes dating from the 15th and 16th centuries are displayed (cat. 130-139). The
Hermitage's collection of ceramics from this period is among the finest in the
world. The forms and the cobalt decoration under transparent glazing show the
influence of Chinese porcelain of the 15th century. The exhibition also includes
glass. Glass-blowing became an important branch of the applied arts after the
16th century. In their accounts of their travels in the 17th and 18th centuries
Europeans described the many glass workshops in Persia. The centre of production
was the city of Shiraz. This is where the unusual Persian scent bottles in the
shape of swans came from. Because of their popularity they were also on sale in
19th-century Europe (cat. 176).
The costly and fragile fabrics from Persia are
exceptional. In the exhibition there are two striking 16th-century fragments,
both showing a prince at a banquet in a blossoming garden (cat. 163 and 164).
These pieces, but also the later Persian fabrics, with their delicate depictions
of people and birds, are among the finest textiles ever made anywhere. Persian
envoys often took these valuable fabrics with them as diplomatic gifts.
Tile of a Frieze (from a set of 24) from the
mausoleum
of Pir Husayn. Faience, 1285/1286 AD (35 x 35 cm),
Cat. No.
52-73
The Qajars
The exhibition ends with an impressive survey of the art of the last
great Persian dynasty, the Qajars. At the beginning of their rule, at the end of
the 18th century, the style of Persian art changed. The reign of Fath Ali Shah
was marked by great splendour, luxury and opulence. Inspired by their Achaemenid
and Sassanid predecessors, the Shah and his followers grew long beards and wore
long, ceremonial robes.
Seal with a Persian defeating a Grecian
warrior.
Chalcedony, 4th century BC (2,6 x 2,1 cm), Cat. No. 9.
For more information:
HERMITAGE
AMSTERDAM
Communication, Education & Marketing
Noepy Testa,
Wieke van Veggel
Postbus 11675
1001 GR Amsterdam
T : 020-530 87
55
F : 020-530 87 50
E : pressoffice@hermitage.nl
W :
www.hermitage.nl
... Payvand News - 3/26/07 ... --
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