The Transformation of Throne Image in Ilkhanid Illustrated Manuscripts until 1430s

This Paper deals with identification and exploration of factors that influenced the throne imagery in the Ilkhanid Illustrated manuscripts in the 14th century. Throne is the central element in the enthronement scenes, as one of the more frequent themes in Persian art. From the very beginning of the Islamic art, thrones appeared in royal scenes illustrated in Umayyad palaces and continued in royal iconography. During the Ilkhanid period the throne image as well as the enthronement scenes appeared frequently in illustrated books as the main media for royal iconography in that era. The Ilkhanid throne was first investigated in the sixth volume of Survey in Persian Art (in Persian Translation). The authors explored various thrones of that era, the ornaments and their main members such as backseat, cushions and stool according to the visual sources, especially the book paintings. They also pointed to the Chinese influences on these thrones.  The diversity of thrones in the Arabic Manuscript of Jami’ al-Tawarikh was first examined in David Donavan’s detailed article which mainly dealt with the roots of the various throne forms in this codex. In his study, Donavan identified three types of thrones according to their basis. He also believed that although Chinese elements are visible in thrones’ structure and ornaments, basic form of the Persian throne’s image is still continued; the notion which is emphasized by Yoka Kadoi in 2009. The current study explores the Ilkhanid throne’s image during three phases of Ilkhanid illustration development with regard to the medium of illustrated book. Three main questions of this research are as follows: what are the main throne types in Ilkhanid painting? What factors have influenced the throne structure and ornaments? And how the illustrated book, as a medium, influenced the throne image in that era?   The study is based on analyzing  85 images selected from seven illustrated manuscripts that belong to three stages of development of Ilkhanid painting; 36 images from Small Shahnama (three manuscripts attributed to 1400 AD, dispersed in various collections), 10 images from Balami’s Tarikhnama (a historical manuscript attributed to 1400 AD, preserved in free and Sackler Gallery),  22 images from Jami’ al-Tawarikh (another historical manuscript attributed to 1410s AD, Preserved in Edinburg library and Khalili Collection), 7 folios from Diez Album attributed to an Illustrated manuscript of Tarikh-i Mobarak-i Gazani which is dated c. 1420s, (preserved in Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin)  and 10 images from the great Ilkhanid Shahnama (attributed to 1430s, dispersed in various collections). The throne image transformation is studied in terms of the throne’s structure, ornaments and the pictorial compositions. The result shows that the Ilkhanid workshops inherited the concepts and visual elements from the pre-Mongol era and combined them with far Eastern elements in throne iconography. This could be traced in the variety of forms and ornamentations in throne images. At the beginning of the era (last decade of the 13th century and early years of the 14th century) the throne image was represented similar to the pre-Mongol throne image in terms of structure. By establishing the Tabriz workshops, the Chinese influences gradually appeared in throne image, especially in books illustrated in Tabriz. Beyond general form and ornamentation, the Ilkhanid painters applied perspective in illustrating throne based on Chinese model. In addition to this limited use of perspective, the painters tended to decorate thrones with various types of vegetal and geometric ornamentations as visual devices for showing the thrones’ luxurious aspect. Their tendency to illustrate the reality also reflects in emitting the traditional symbolism in form of animals or transforming them into decorative objects. Consequently, the Mongol invasion could be considered as a turning point in throne iconography. Several factors were involved in the throne image evolution; first of all the pre-Mongol tradition which could be traced on ceramic and metalwork as well as book illustrations, secondly, the Chinese model, thirdly, ornamental details borrowed from Chinese art which were transferred to Ilkhanid workshops by merchants and fourthly, the consideration of image as a visual narrative of text which is reflected in throne image as a realistic representation. This is expressed by applying perspective, excessive use of ornaments and avoiding the traditional and symbolic models in enthronement scenes.