Interpretation Of Human Figures On Timurid Bookbindings

Abstract

This article examines the emergence and development of human imagery on Timurid bookbindings during the second quarter of the fifteenth century. Particular attention is given to the binding of the Divan of Jahan Malik Khatun, copied in 840/1436–1437; Nizami Ganjavi’s Khamsa, copied in 846/1442–1443; Jalal al-Din Rumi’s Masnavi, copied in 849/1446; and another copy of Nizami’s Khamsa, produced in Shiraz in 853/1449–1450. A comparative examination of these examples reveals a significant change in the compositional role of the human figure. Initially represented as a principal figure within a medallion, the human image was subsequently incorporated into increasingly complex pictorial settings involving landscape elements, animals, fantastic creatures, and epigraphic decoration. The article argues that this development should not be understood merely as an iconographic innovation. It was closely related to advances in binding techniques, the artistic environment of Timurid court culture, and the circulation of craftsmen, motifs, and compositional models among major centres of manuscript production. Particular caution is proposed in attributing figurative bindings to a specific artistic centre solely on stylistic grounds, since the date and place of copying of a manuscript do not necessarily establish the date and place of its binding.