The Comparative Study of Illustrations of Rubaiyat attributed to Khayyam

Khayyam’s fame is largely due to free translation of Fitzgerald of his Rubaiyat. By the time of publishing of Fitzgerald translation, a variety of artists tried illustrating it. In west, a special inclination has been raised in illustrators to represent the Rubaiyat beginning with Elihu Veddar’s works continuing to the present. Nevertheless, the history of illustration of Rubaiyat traces back to 826 AH and to Mahfuz Ul-Hagh manuscript version containing some Persian miniatures. Some artists have focused on the whole concept of Rubaiyat and some on one or some words. Some artists have represented the superficial meaning of the poems and some have taken a more symbolic approach. Western, orientalist and Persian approaches toward the representation of Rubaiyat can be seen among the illustrators. This research is a comparative study of Rubaiyat illustrations, according to three poems translated by Fitzgerald and its main purposes are the study of the representation of key concepts of Rubaiyat in illustrations of some artists, and the study of the effects of artistic movements, cultural atmosphere and also the aesthetic tradition on the illustrations. This research is descriptive-analytic and gathering of information is based upon desk study.