From Persia to India Miniature Paintings and Illuminations

August 23 - December 23, 2003

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Twenty-five meticulously illustrated manuscripts and miniatures comprise this exhibition, which is drawn from the University of Wyoming Art Museum's collection of 53 Persian and Indian miniatures.

The "miniature" (a term derived from the Latin miniare meaning to color with red lead and not a reference to the object's scale or significance) was an artform that flourished between the fifth and sixteenth centuries. These exquisite hand-made illustrations were created by a variety of artisans with specialized skills copying text, painting decorative borders, and drawing illustrations. Illuminations incorporated gold or silver into the manuscript. The works in this exhibition include miniatures from Persia (known today as Iran) that predate Indian influences, examples from the Moghul dynasty period, and Indian miniatures illustrating Hindu stories and mythology.

 

Images:

 

Left: Anonymous, Untitled (Portrait of a Lady), tempera on paper, 5-1/4 x 3-1/4 inches, ca. 18th century, University of Wyoming Art Museum Collection

Center: Anonymous, Persian Manuscript from Firdausis Shanama Turkman, Tempera on paper, Ca. 15th century, 7 1/4 x 9 3/8 inches, University of Wyoming Art Museum Collection, 81.0223

Right: Anonymous, Untitled, Tempera on paper, Ca. 1850, 10 x 13 1/2 inches, University of Wyoming Art Museum Collection, 80.0235