Pieces of Gold: Piecing together a mutilated Timurid masterpiece

The Bodleian Libraries (BODcasts)

Shiva Mihan, Harvard Art Museums and Bahari Visiting Fellow at the Bodleian Libraries, gives a talk on her work in Persian arts. Manuscripts produced in the 15th century under Timurid patrons are among the most exquisite examples of Persian arts of the book. Codices containing sumptuous illuminations and lavish illustrations attracted the mutilating attention of album-makers and art dealers in the 19th and early 20th century. This paper provides evidence of such practices in a unique treasure from Prince Baysunghur’s library: the Rasayil copied in Herat in 830/1427. This presentation will share the result of an in-depth codicological analysis of the manuscript (known as the Berenson Anthology) and the textual study of its rare and unique treatises, along with research into other collections and archives, and finally bring together some of the missing pieces and provide a digital reconstruction of the original manuscript. This talk will be followed by a drinks reception in Blackwell Hall. Presented by the Oxford Bibliographical Society and The Bodleian Library Centre for the Study of the Book.