Timur and the Princely Vision

by Thomas W. Lentz, Glenn D. Lowry

The two hundred stunning color photographs of illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, and metalwork are an elegant showcase of Timurid design, and they place these masterpieces in political, social, and cultural perspective.

Genres: Art

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 1989

Reviews

[Anubis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books i have.

I purchased it because of my interest in the Timurids. I did not really know what to expect, but thought that it might be an interesting view on a subject where it's hard to find western information on.

The book itself is big and heavy. But as soon as you open it, you are immersed. Hard to put into words how truly amazing this book is. It almost feels like you are reading a catalogue; the plates and pictures are amazing, and while the author assumes a general knowledge of the subject, the writing is still very engaging.

But where the book really shines through and through is with the pictures of the art and architecture of the Timurids, and therefore 15th century Central Asia. The details are countless, the quality phenomenal.

There has been much work put into this book. The pictures are carefully selected, and the notes are great. Some notes are even presented as personal correspondence by the author with leading historians of the subject, which i found an interesting touch.

A big reason why i fell in love with the book is because i haven't really expected such a high level book to be released about a subject that is so under researched in the West. I really doubt many copies of this book were made or sold. I personally don't know many people that would be interested in such a book myself.

But for those that are, i can really highly recommend it.

[Aatif Rashid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art books are never bad, but this one is particularly amazing, as it sheds light on a fascinating and neglecting artistic period in Islamic history. Timur or Tamerlane is often known as a brutal conquer, but here we get a vision of the artistry of his dynasty, the architecture, illuminated manuscripts, and paintings created by him and his successors. It’s a kind of art that’s not widely scene, consciously artificial, full of dazzling color, and challenge to the notion that Islamic art is abstract and never human.

"All executed for sons or grandsons of Shahrukh, these surviving royal Shahnamas from the early fifteenth century reflect in varying degrees the “stylized mime” perfected in illustrated poetries. Their illustrations long with the painting “Tahmina Enters Rustam’s Chamber,” possibly from a Shahnama, are among the great achievements of Persian painting; whether imaginative new creations of Timurid workshops or derived from traditional sources, they embody a vision so splendidly royal and artificial in effect that they transform the story in a distinctly Timurid manner. The drama and thunder associated with earlier Mongol versions has been replaced by cooly balletic orchestrations of man and beast in settings that range from ritualistically imperial to the paradisiacal. The hunt, an exercise traditionally symbolic of royal power, has become aristocratic play as horsemen move in a theatrical, stylized dance across a meadow; figures are arranged in court like chess pieces, or sheathed in metal for battle, they move in rhymed groups over coral outcroppings and patterned landscapes beneath skies of scrolling clouds, their reserved expression banishing nearly all traces of volume, light, and shadow."

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best art book I own. I was very fortunate to find it used in Second Story Books in DC for $20. A treasure trove of the art of the Timurid era.