Here's a link to a virtual gallery at the Met depicting Mongolian art.

A particular piece that struck me was the 14th century Book of Kings, known today as the Great Mongol Shahnama. It was produced in the Ilkhanid period (established by Hulagu when he subdued Baghdad), and had a curious history of how it went from the dynastic libraries of the Persian Shahs in Tehran and landed in Paris in 1908 in the hands of an unscrupulous french dealer's hand, who because he couldn't sell the whole book at the price, had the book unbounded, the pages split apart and repatched and sold as individual folios to collectors around the world.



Check out the Met website for more priceless Mongolian art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/khan6/hd_khan6.htm

Please post any links to virtual galleries here! Thx.

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
Tarikh-i jahan-gusha (History of the World Conqueror), A.H. 4 Dhu’l-hijja 689/December 8, 1290 Copied by Rashid al-Khwafi Probably Iraq (Baghdad) Leather binding; 175 folios: ink, colors, and gold on paper; 13 x 10 in. (33 x 25.5 cm)

It seems the Mongolian art reached its zenith during the Ilkhanid period for the Mongol rulers in the capitals of Maragha, Tabraiz and Baghdad developed the habit of writing history as a means to legitimise their rule over a foreign land. In the Shahnama (Book of Kings), the Ilkhanid Mongols laid down an official dynastic history which identified themselves as kings and heroes with an Iranian heritage and past.

Apparently, during this period, the Mongols introduced artistic influences and high quality paper from China. These influence were integrated in these historical book illustrations such as the Shahnama. It seems that in later years of the Ilkhanid dynasty, the vitality of these paintings gave way to stylised art which are more persian.

Later Persian scholars have recognised the differences between the changes so much so they describe the art from the Ilkhanid period as the time when 'the veil was lifted from the face of Persian painting'... whatever that means, but look at the painting above whereby the faces have been veiled (rubbed off?) somehow...

source : http://www.metmuseum.org/

Persian miniature paintings began in the Mongol period at the beginning of the 13th century, when Persian painters were exposed to Chinese art, and Chinese painters worked at the Ilkhan courts in Iran. These miniatures later spread to Mughal India where their intricate images, designed to illustrate manuscripts, usually depict scenes of history or romance - with small figures engaging in battle or courtship in stylized landscapes.

Apparently some Chinese painters — or perhaps their pattern books — were sent to Persia, where they had a tremendous impact on the development of Persian miniature paintings. The dragon and phoenix motifs from China first appear in Persian art during the Mongol era. The representation of clouds, trees, and landscapes in Persian painting also owes a great deal to Chinese art — all due to the cultural transmission supported by the Mongols.

Some of the effects of Chinese influence can be seen in the painting of Bahram Gur's Battle with the Dragon from the famous Demotte "Shah-namah" (The Book of Kings), illustrated in Tabriz in the second quarter of the 14th century. The mountains and landscape details are of Far Eastern origin as of course is the dragon with which the hero is locked in combat. By using the frame as a window and placing the hero with his back to the reader, the artist creates the impression that the event is actually taking place before our eyes.


Bahram Gur's Battle with the Dragon. From the Shah-nama Ferdowsi, Tabriz. Second quarter of the 14th century.

hmm interesting