Shahnameh, Book of Kings: Exhibit at Princeton University Art Museum
The Peck Shahnama will be on view at the Princeton University Art Museum from Oct. 3, 2015 through Jan. 24, 2016, the exhibit will feature all of the manuscript’s 48 illustrated and illuminated folios and will introduce the captivating splendor and art-historical significance of the Peck Shahnama to the public for the first time. The exhibition will be organized to follow the Shahnama’snarrative, structured around mythical, legendary and historical eras, and will offer insight into Persian manuscript production and the history of Persian miniature painting.
Over 1,000 years ago, the Persian poet Abol Ghasem Ferdowsi (935-1020) narrated the history of Iran and its peoples–spanning 50 monarchs from the dawn of time to the 7th century A.D.–through gripping tales of ancient triumphs, larger-than-life heroes and grand adventures. Called the Shahnama, or Book of Kings, the epic has been a source of artistic inspiration in Persian culture for centuries and is the most frequently illustrated work of Persian poetry.
Princeton University owns five illustrated versions of the Shahnama, one of which, the Peck Shahnama, named for its donor, ranks among the finest 16th-century Persian manuscripts in the U.S., due to its impressive size and the quality of its materials and decoration. Having recently undergone conservation treatment, for which the entire manuscript was disbound, the outstanding–though relatively unknown–Peck Shahnama is now the centerpiece of an exhibition before the codex is rejoined.
The Peck Shahnama was bequeathed to the Princeton University Library in 1983 by Clara S. Peck in honor of her brother, Fremont C. Peck, a member of Princeton’s Class of 1920. Ms. Peck (1896–1983) was a horse breeder and collector of rare books and manuscripts with a particular affinity for literature on natural history, sporting, hunting, and equine history. It was doubtless the varied, and often delightful, representations of horses and other animals, polo games, and hunting scenes that attracted Miss Peck to this deluxe Book of Kings.
“The lasting and universal themes depicted in the magisterial Peck Shahnama remain emphatically relevant and still resonate with individuals and cultures around the world today,” said James Steward, Nancy A. Nasher–David J. Haemisegger, Class of 1976, Director. “This beautiful example of Persian miniature painting is a masterwork of literature and art, and Princeton looks forward to bringing more attention to it through this exhibition and publication.”
The Peck Shahnama was illustrated in 1589-90 in the city of Shiraz in south-central Iran and is an exceptional example of the manuscripts created in that center of learning and culture. Every intricate detail, from the gold-specked paper to the number and content of the illustrated scenes, was conceived in advance by a master book designer.
Shahnama manuscripts trace the vibrant artistic tradition of Persian miniature painting as it developed from late medieval through early modern times. Each deluxe Shahnama is a singular work of art–no two volumes contain the same verses or illustrate the same scenes.
The exhibition was guest curated by Marianna Shreve Simpson, a specialist in the Islamic arts of the book, who was previously curator of Islamic Near Eastern art at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, and director of curatorial affairs and curator of Islamic art at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
A 208-page catalogue, published by the Princeton University Art Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, accompanies the exhibition and includes a major scholarly essay by the curator, detailing the Peck Shahnama’s origins, history and artistic characteristics; stunning new photography of each of the manuscript’s illuminated and illustrated folios, accompanied by insightful commentary on their narrative themes and artistic presentation; and an essay by Louise Marlow (professor of religion and chair, Middle Eastern studies, Wellesley College) on the manuscript’s extensive marginal glosses.
