Китаб Хона

Ордынская тема - важнейшая в средневековой русской литературе. Монгольское нашествие представляло собой рубежный момент в истории Руси и именно так воспринималось современниками событий и ближайшими потомками.
Реконструкция представлений о монголо-татарах, предпринятая на материале памятников древнерусской литературы, позволила определить наиболее важные аспекты восприятия ордынцев, проследить эволюцию взглядов средневековых авторов на феномен завоевания и выявить наиболее характерные способы изображения "поганых". Интерпретация деталей описания, содержащих оценочные характеристики монголо-татар, позволила выявить установки сознания XIII-XV веков, определявшие систему координат, с которой древнерусские книжники подходили к осмыслению и изображению происходящих событий.
В.Н.Рудаков сумел заметить и прояснить восприятие русскими людьми пришельцев, предопределившее и результаты нашествия, и длительность пребывания земель под властью ордынских ханов, и освобождение от ордынского владычества. Ключом к пониманию восприятия книжником татар стали тексты исторических источников, упущенные предшественниками: так называемые общие места, устойчивые формулировки, цитаты из Библии и святоотеческой литературы. В.Н.Рудаков основывается на системе доказательств, которые могут быть проверены каждым. В основе выводов - максимально точное выявление смысла, заложенного автором источника в его текст, что дает ему возможность понять своего "собеседника из прошлого".
Такой подход позволил по-новому увидеть события, известные каждому со школьной скамьи, увидеть нашу историю глазами человека, который историю "делал", а, значит, лучше понять его - и себя самого.

This opulent volume of works
from illustrated and illuminated
manuscripts culled from important public and private collections offers a thorough introduction to the wonders of Islamic art.

A renowned scholar of Islamic art, history and culture, Oleg Grabar introduces in this book a wide range of illuminated manuscript masterpieces from the eighth to the seventeenth century. The heroes of grand epics such as Alexander the Great are found side-by-side with mythical monarchs, sultans, and even monsters. Illuminated manuscripts of the Koran, epic poetry, and scientific works from the Egyptian, Syrian, Persian, Mogul, and Ottoman Empires await discovery. The book opens with an essay which contextualizes the works-the originals of which reside in the Louvre, French National Library, National Library of Cairo, the British Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Topkapi Museum, the Freer Gallery of Art and the collections of the Aga Khan and Khalili families. Following is a selection of two hundred full-color illustrations accompanied by the author's insightful commentary. Including examples of some of the world's most beautiful artistic expressions, this collection of carefully chosen works not only illustrates an important period in art history but also serves as a monument to the achievements of Islamic culture.
About the Author
OLEG GRABAR is a leading world authority on Islamic Art. He has taught Islamic art and architecture at the University of Michigan, Harvard, and most recently Princeton University's Institute for Advanced Studies.

Intended as a standard text, this volume by the area editors of Islam for The Dictionary of Art (1980. 3d ed.) is a sequel to Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar's now classic The Art and Architecture of Islam: 650-1250 (Viking, 1988). Organized simply by chronology (with sections on 1250-1500 and 1500-1800) and then by geography (Iran and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia Minor, and India), the text focuses separately on architecture and "the arts." Each chapter concentrates on a limited number of significant objects, discussing not only stylistic and aesthetic issues but also addressing the social, historical, and economic contexts of those works. Although this book is densely written in a manner typical of survey texts and lacking the richly colored glossy reproductions of a coffee-table tome, its comprehensive coverage entitles it to become part of any library with the slightest interest in art.
Eugene C. Burt, Art Inst. of Seattle Lib.

Published in honour of Basil W. Robinson, Keeper Emeritus of the Victoria and Albert Museum and a key contributor to the growing scholarly interest in Persian miniatures for over 50 years, this book contains both personal appreciations of his work and a bibliography of his writings. The contributions cover Persian painting from Ilkhanid to Qajar times, and include material from Turkey, Central Asia, and India.

From Publishers Weekly
The illuminated manuscripts of Kamaluddin Bihzad, a court painter to the early Safavid Dynasty, are revelations of color and form. His figures, rendered with fluid lines, are marvelously expressive, his backgrounds crowded with undulating trees or stunning architectural patterns. The eye is unsure where to alight, until it comes upon a central figure-a turbaned Joseph kneeling on a delicately patterned rug, or a horseman flinching as his mount transfigures into a seven-headed demon. Western scholars of Islamic art have been aware of Bihzad's gifts for some time, but most have dismissively categorized his work as illustrative. However, Barry contends Bihzad's paintings are of an intensely religious quality, despite the Islamic injunction against images. Barry's arguments are convincing, his erudition is impressive, and his book is stuffed with delightful reproductions. But his prose can be repetitive, and his organizational choices can confuse the reader. Why, for example, does Barry discuss the history of "Orientalist" scholarship and Bihzad's influence on Matisse before reporting Bihzad was born around "1465, died in 1535, and was a native of the Central Asian kingdom of Herat, an oasis in what is now northwestern Afghanistan"? In all, the book is a detailed introduction to an unsung genius, but it may be too detailed and circuitous for the casual reader.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
In terms of elucidating inner meaning and symbolism, the study of medieval Islamic art has lagged almost a full century behind that of medieval Western art. This groundbreaking work suggests how it might at last prove possible to crack the allegorical code of medieval Islamic painting during its Golden Age between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. Barry focuses his study around the work of Bihzâd, a painter who flourished in the late fifteenth century in the kingdom of Herat, now in Afghanistan. Bihzâd became the undisputed master of the “Persian miniature” and an almost mythical personality throughout Asian Islam. By carefully deciphering the visual symbols in medieval Islamic figurative art, Barry’s study deliberately takes a bold approach in order to decode the lost iconographic conventions of a civilization. The glorious illustrations, scholarly text, and extracts from Persian poetry, many translated into English for the first time, combine to create an essential new work of reference and a visual delight.

From Library Journal
Formerly Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art at Harvard University and the author of such books as The Meditation of Ornament, Grabar here introduces Western readers to Persian painting, which consists mainly of miniatures. Grabar wants us to understand Persian culture, examining the art in its historical context and then carefully discussing its defining features. After discussing historiography and the sources of painting in Persia, the author provides some fascinating insights into the historical and cultural context in which the paintings were produced. What results is an invaluable guide to the topic whose informative, well-written text and beautifully reproduced illustrations attest to the author's depth of knowledge. The works shown are chosen from a very wide variety of sources. This is a scholarly book that can also be enjoyed by the uninitiated; recommended for most collections. Martin Chasin, Adult Inst., Bridgeport, CT
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
A better guide can scarcely be imagined . . .This is scholarship that opens patient, dedicated readers to high pleasure. -- Alan G. Artner, Chicago Tribune

Fascinating. . . . An invaluable guide to the topic whose informative, well written text and beautifully reproduced illustrations attest to the author's depth of knowledge. . . . This is a scholarly book that can also be enjoyed by the uninitiated. -- Library Journal

Grabar has made many contributions to the study of early Islamic art and now turns his considerable powers to the study of the art of Persian painting. . . . He offers many ways to work toward future avenues of research, all of which will benefit upcoming scholars of Persian painting. The general public will benefit from his advice to examine the paintings for the personal pleasure of entering a very private world. -- Choice

The serious study of Persian art is barely 100 years old, and Oleg Grabar's authoritative overview stresses how little we know about these brilliantly colored and wittily composed miniatures and manuscripts. -- New York Times Book Review

[An] infectiously enthusiastic book. . . . [A] superb introduction, which combines critical sophistication with clarity and accessibility. . . . The fact that Grabar never forgets the role of pleasure is one of the strengths of the book. -- Phil Baker, The Art Book

From Library Journal
Canby, a curator in the department of Oriental antiquities at the British Museum, has produced an informative, scholarly, and sumptuously illustrated volume on the art of Persia's Safavid dynasty. The term art includes, among other things, ceramics, carpets, architectureDand, of course, the wonderful manuscript illuminations. Canby examines each of the dynasty's reigns in turn, discussing its political events and major artistic achievements. It is interesting to note how carefully and comprehensively each important building is examined in a volume that covers such a variety of artistic media. The author is very well versed in her subject and familiar with the relevant scholarly publications. The text is clearly written and supported, where necessary, by endnotes. The photographs are clearly reproduced and attest to the superb quality of the art of the time. This is a volume for academic and larger public libraries.DMartin Chasin, Adult Inst., Bridgeport, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
The era of Safavid rule (1501-1722) saw the finest flowering of the arts in Iran. In a time of dynamic religious and political developments, painting and textiles attained new heights of brilliance and opulence and architecture flourished with the growth of cities. This comprehensive book follows the development of Persian art and architecture during the reigns of successive shahs, from the first emperor Ismail I (1501-24) through the rule of his successor, Shah Tahmasp, and into the glorious age for the arts under the reign of Shah Abbas I, who came to the throne in 1588 and made Isfahan his capital, embarking on a grand plan of palaces, mosques and new quarters. Unlike his predecessors, he welcomed European travelers at his court, and by the end of his reign in 1629 European art had begun to influence that of Iran. Under his successors Shahs Safi and Abbas II, traditional Iranian forms such as colorful revetments of buildings were combined with wall paintings in both the Persian and European styles, and a new wave of Chinese influence made itself felt.

From Publishers Weekly
An ambitious endeavor for one publication, this book approaches the near boundless field of Persian painting from a thematic vantage point. A prefatory but comprehensive historical overview, including a discussion of pre-Islamic painting by Russian scholar Marshak, establishes the fundamental chronology of ruling dynasties, invading neighbors and shifting art practices of the Persian world through the early 20th century. Islamic art scholar Sims's decision to organize the volume's sumptuous reproductions of wall paintings, illustrated manuscripts and lacquerware according to motif creates a highly original cultural index for students of Iranian art. Topoi, or archetypes, such as Razm U Bazm (Fighting and Feasting), the Five Pillars of Islam, Night Scenes, and The Scholar explore not only princely and ceremonial themes but formal properties, such as line, color and composition. The book's strength is in the details, namely the hundreds of individual images that have been thoroughly catalogued and researched. Each entry includes a straightforward explication of the artwork and often anecdotal information about the artifact's recovery and preservation. An essay by Grube supplements the section on religious painting in the Islamic period. 15 b&w and 345 full color illus.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Peerless Images focuses on paintings from Persia, an amorphous culture shaped by a variety of influences. After detailed and fascinating introductions to each century of classical Persian art, Sims and Marshak analyze more than 200 paintings, each exquisitely reproduced. They include relatively famous prints of scenes from books like Language of the Birds and Rose Garden, as well as scores of lesser-known paintings, including depictions of Sufi life and even portraits, which are sometimes considered a typically Persian style of painting. Their analysis is scholarly, but historical anecdotes and the paintings themselves will interest even casual admirers of Islamic art. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Rear cover notes: "The sixteenth century saw a flowering of classical painting in Persia. Art flourished under the aegis of the Shahs, and the pages reproduced in this volume represent the most unusual and dazzling miniatures in these Safavid manuscripts. Within settings exquisitely portrayed, a world of great luxury and delicacy unfolds on every folio as palaces open onto fountains and gardens, lovers and warriors sigh or are vanquished - all realized in shimmering, jewellike paintings that delight the eye and please the mind. Stuart Cary Welch, Honorary Curator of Manuscripts at the Harvard College Library and Lecturer in the Fine Arts at Harvard University, traces the historical development of the Safavid Rule and clarifies the fine points of each miniature reproduced here." Softcover, 8 x 11 inches, 127 pages; includes 48 color plates, numerous black & white illustrations, and commentary.

Encounter one of history’s greatest civilisations through miniatures. In Persian Miniatures, the story of the magnificent Persian Empire is told by way of an artistic tradition on a small but vibrant scale. This unique collection of colourful miniatures from Persia in a convenient portable size will make the perfect gift.

Review
"Persian Painting explores the context, stylistic development, and historical background behind the draughtsmanship and cultural themes of Persian miniature painting, in terms accessible to the lay reader or beginning art student." --Wisconsin Bookwatch
Product Description
Jewel-like colors, rich patterns, precise execution and virtuoso draftmanship characterize the best of Persian miniature painting: the perfect realization of an ideal world. <P>This fully illustrated book provides a concise account of Persian painting from about 1300 to 1900. Beginning with the materials and tools which enabled the artists to achieve their remarkable effects, Sheila Canby goes on to survey the stylistic development of Persian painting and the influences upon it of over six centuries of Iran's turbulent history.

In 1556 Prince Sultan Ibrahim Mizra commissioned a copy of the Persian classic, the "Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) of Abdul-Rahman Jami". This text explores the production, purpose and meaning of the work, providing historical documentation about its patron and analyzing its contents.