note on the philosophy of persian art.pdf

7/27/2019 Note on the Philosophy of Persian Art.pdf

1/5

The Smithsonian Institution

Regents of the University of Michigan

Note on the Philosophy of Persian ArtAuthor(s): Ananda K. CoomaraswamySource: Ars Islamica, Vol. 15/16 (1951), pp. 125-128Published by: Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the History Art, University of MichiganStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4515670 .

Accessed: 20/10/2011 10:45

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new form

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

The Smithsonian Institution andRegents of the University of Michigan are collaborating with JSTOR to

digitize, preserve and extend access toArs Islamica.
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sihttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4515670?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4515670?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=si


2/5

NOTESNOTE ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF PERSIAN ART

"What oes tprofit e ohave een hese hings,if do notknowwhat heymean?"(Shepherd fHermas,Vision,II, 3, I.)In the following ote, the problem fmeaningnPersian rtwillbe discussed nlyin connectionith herepresentationsf liv-ing hings. he actual xistencef such epre-sentationsmakes t needless o refer t anylength o thequestion f the Islamic cono-clasm,whichmight ave accountedortheirabsence.We shalldo well to rememberhatthiswas a Semiticnheritancend thateventhe ncient ebrews adnever efrainedromtherepresentationf supernaturaleings, orwhich heres ample videncen the accountsofthe decorations"fthe emplefSolomon,and nthefact f therepresentationf Cheru-bimby Sphinxes;whatwas objected o waswhat Plato calls the making f copiesofcopies.The instructionoMoses had been o"make all things n accordance ith hepat-ternthat was shown heeon themount,""and so itwas with heTabernacle"; hence,as was pointed utby Tertullian,hedecora-tions ftheTemplewere not mages f thekind o which heprohibitionpplied."It is often supernaturalconographyndperhaps lways symbolicconographyhatsurvivesnwhatwe havebeen o apttothinkof as a merely decorative" rt. For thatmatter,llthe arlier art f the hahNamahitself s reallymythological;nd it seems omethatno onewhoknew heMantik l-Tairor Rumi's uestion,How are ye hunters fthesimurghftheheart?" or who was fa-

'Ex. 25, 40.2Zohar, V, 6i.3AdversusMarcionem,, 22.4 The Mathnawi of Jaladlu'ddinu'mt, d., tr.

miliarwith he ufi enunciationsfthe arnasoul as a "dragon"couldhave seenin thestoriesof the simurg onlya meaninglevestigefthe ldSaenaMuruk, erethragnorintheconflictsfheroeswith ragonsheimplicationsfa psychomachy.It willbe much he same if we consideotherPersianbooksofpoetry,fwhich hecontents rarely ecular; n thepictures fLaila andMadjniin, rthose fan llustratHaftPaikar,or a Kalilawa-Dimna,twouldbeunreasonableosupposehatwhatwaspresentedo theeyehadnone fthemeaningfwhatwas presentedo theear. In fact, hesubjects f book illustrationsre oftenreferred o bythemetaphysicaloets n theisymbolicenses.Riimi, or xample,efersotheStory ftheHare andtheElephants,ndcalls thoseblindwhodo not see itshiddemeaning,'nd elsewhere o thestory f theHare andtheLion, nwhichheharehasquita differentignificance.t is withreferentosuchwell-knownhemess that fSiyawusriding heflameshathe exclaims,Blest stheTurkomanwhosehorsegallops ntothemidst f thefire! Makinghis steedso hotthat tseeks omounthe enith fthe ky,"thehorsenSufiymbolismenerally eaninthe ody, iddennd ontrolledy he pirit.Representationsf polo gamesare commonenough, utwhattheymight avesuggested oa cultivatedersianmind ne houlconsiderArifi'sGuy Chawgan.Alexandersearch or heWaterofLifeintheLand ofDarkness, subject fwhich here remanypictures,s a GrailQuest. The Seven leeperwith heir og nthe avearedepictedntheand om. yR. A. NicholsonLondon-Leiden,925-40), book II, line27I2.5Ibid., III, line 805.6Ibid.,III, line 613.


3/5

pagesofmanuscripts,ndoften eferredo nconnectionith he nvertedenses fsleepingandwaking-"thissleep' s thestateof the'arif venwhen e s awake'," ndthedogaswell"is a seeker fterGod" inthismundanecave.7In all these ases thepoints notthat hepictureanbe explainedmerelyy referenceto the iteraryources fwhichhey re llus-trations, ut thatboth mustbe understoodwith eferenceo a doctrinal eaninghat, sDante said, "eludes theveil of thestrangeverse." Neither s it onlypaintedpicturesthatmust be understoodn thisway; theanagogical aluescan be read in a workofartofanykind.Sa'di,for xample,xclaims:"How well the brocader's pprenticeaid,whenhe portrayedhe anka',theelephant,and thegiraffe,Frommyhand there amenotone formsuirat)thepattern naksh)ofwhich he Teacherfrom bovehad notfirstdepicted.'8It wouldbe,then, nly pathetic allacyto assume orthePersians hesamekindofestheticreoccupationhatmakes urselvesoindifferento themeaningndutilityf theworkof art; these re its intelligibility.naxe sunintelligibleoa monkey,oweverineanaxe tmay e,because e doesnotknowtsintention;ndso in thecaseofthemanwhodoesnotcarewhat thepictures about andknows nlywhetherr not tpleaseshiseye.We dare notpresumehatPersian rtwas asinsignificants ourown;their statewasnotyet ikeours, Tom,Dick, ndHarryocracy.Ratheret usinvestigateheir wn onceptionof thepurpose ndnature f works f art."Aesthetics,"o-called,eing branch fphi-

7Ibid., , lines389 f.; II, lines1424-25; II,lines 553-54; f.Nicholson'sote n , line 89;Koran,VIII, I7; see lsoA.J.Wensinck,Ashabal-Kahf,"ncyclopaediaf slam Leiden-London,I9I3-38), I, 478-79.8Busta'n,, lines 33-35.

losophy,t is to themetaphysicianshatwemust urn;we cannot xpect o learnmucfromheMutakallimiinhoseconoclasmadto dowith xternals,utmay earn omethifrom heSufis, hose conoclasmxtendedothevery oncept f "self"andforwhom osay"I" amountedoidolatryndpolytheisAs inIndian,Greek, ndChristianheoogy, o thePersiannhisreferencesoworkof art has alwaysn mind he nalogy f thdivine ndhuman rtists.The divineArtisis thoughtf now as an architect,owas apainter,r as a writer,rpotter,rembroierer;and ustas noneofHis workssmeaninglessor useless, so no one makespictureseven in a bathhouse,without an intention"Does anypainter,"Rimi asks,"painta beau-tifulpicture (naksh) for the picture'sownsake, or with some good end in view? Doesany pottermake a pot for the sake of thepot, or witha view to the water? Does anycalligrapher khattat) writewith such skilfor the sake of the writing tself,or to beread? The externalform naksh) is forthesake ofan unseen orm,nd thatfor he akeof yet another ... in proportion to yourmaturity"-meaningupon meaning, ike therungs f a ladder.'0 "The picture n thewallis a likenessof Adam, indeed,but see fromthe form (israt) what is lacking,-theSpirit":"1"thepicture's miling ppearance sforyour ake,so thatbymeansof thepicturthereal theme ma'na) maybe established."2A fourteenth-centuryext on pictures nbathhouses, itedby Sir Thomas Arnold,ex-plains that representations f gardens andflowers timulate hevegetative, hoseofwarand thechase theanimal, nd eroticpaintingthespiritual rinciples fman'sconstitution

9Mathnawl, V, line3000.0 Ibid., IV, lines2881 if.Ibid., I, lines1020-21.12Ibid., I, line2769.3 Paintingn Islam (Oxford, 1928), p. 88.

I26 NOTES


4/5

NOTES 127This may eem trange o modern ars,but tis preciselyne of the hingshatmust e un-derstoodf the Persian r, ndeed, nyothertraditionalrt s tobeunderstood: iimi, orexample,anboth sk, "Whatis love?" andanswer, Thou shalt knowwhen thou be-comestme," 4 and also say hat whetherovebe from his ideor from hat (profane rsacred), nthe nd t eadsup yonder."5All thisdoes notapplyonly o pictures."One can use a bookas a pillow, ut he rueend of thebook s the science t contains,"6''or can you pluck a rose from he lettersro s e ?" 17 Similarlyorgardens: This out-wardspringtimendgarden re a reflectionof thegarden piritual . . that thoumayestwithpurervisionbehold hegarden nd cy-press plot of the world unseen."8 Again,there re few, f any, roductionsf Persianartmore eautifulhan hemosqueamps; ndherewe can be surethat veryMuslimmusthave known he interpretationiven n theKoran: "Allah is the Lightof heavenandearth.The likenessfhisLight s a niche nwhich s a lamp;the amp s in a glass; andtheglass s likea brightlyhiningtar;it iskindled rom blessedtree,neither f theEast noroftheWest,ofwhichheoilwouldwell-nighurn ntouchedyfire.Lightuponlight! Allahguideth ntohis LightwhomsoHe will;andHe speaketh omankindnalle-gories amthal) forHe is theknower f allthings." 9 Some would have been familiar,also,withthe furtherxegesis ccordingowhich,s Dara Shikujhays, heniche epre-sents heworld, he ights the Lightof theEssence, heglass through hich t shines s

14 Mathnawf,I, preface.5 Ibid., I, line II.16Ibid., II, line 2989.7 Ibid., I, line3456.18 Shams-i-Tabriz,ivdn,Tabriz d., 4.IO; andMathnawi,I, line1944.19Koran,XXIV, 35.

thehuman oul, hetree s theSelfof Truthandtheoil is the imeless pirit.20The artist's rocedurenvolves he twooperations,maginativend operative,ntelectual and manual;theworkof art itselbeing heresultantf thefour auses, ormaefficient,aterial, nd final."Behold n tharchitect he idea of the house (khayal-khana),hiddennhis heart ikea seed n thearth; hat dea comes orth rom im ike asprout rom heground":1 "behold hehousandthemansions; ncetheywere pells af-san) in the architectthat s, art inthe artist']. It was theoccasion'ar:), and the oncept andisha) ofthe architecthat dducethe ools ndthebeams.Whatbut ome deaoccasion, nd concept s thesource f evercraft (pisLha) The beginning, hich isthought fikr),finds ts end in the wor('aml); andknow hat n suchwisewas thmakingftheworld romternity.he fruicomefirstn thethoughtftheheart, t thlast they re actually een; whenyou havewrought,ndplanted hetree, t theendyouread theprescription";2 "thecrafts re allthe shadowsof conceptual orms" zilli-i-suirat-i-andisha).23That all amountsto sayingthat heactualform eveals heessentiform,ndthattheproportionf oneto thothersthemeasure fthe rtist'success.Again,"thedeviceon thering naksh-nigin) eveals hegoldsmith'soncept."4 Thewholedoctrines exemplary;hework lwaythemimesisf aninvisible aradigm. In thtime of separationLove ('ishk) fashionformssiurat)inthe ime funionheFormless One emergesaying,I am the ource fthe source f intoxicationnd sobriety othwhateverheform,hebeautysmine..

20 Dara Shikfih, adima' 'I-Bahrain, hapter 21 Mathnawf, , lines1790-93.22 Ibid., II, lines965-73.23 Ibid., VI, lines3728.24Ibid., I, lines I325-26.


5/5

I28 NOTESThe forms thevessel, he eautyhewine." 5It is precisely his creative ove that DaraShiku:hquateswithhe rinciplecalledMayain the anguage f the ndianmonotheists";8and t is Plato'sEros,themaster nallmak-ingsbyart,27nd Dante'sAmor hat nspireshisdolcetilnuovo.28 But hough uimiouldhave agreed hat the nvisiblehingsfHimfrom he reationftheworld reclearlyeen,being understood y the thingsthat aremade," 9 he knows hat heArtist imselfsalso veiled yhisworks,80ndwouldhaveen-dorsed hewords fhisgreat ontemporary,MeisterEckhart: "Wouldstthouhave thekernel, reak he shell; and ikewise, ouldstthoufind ut Natureundisguised, ust houshatter ll her mages."1 For theSufi, hisis what he"burningf idols"means.Unless for a modernwhose nterestnworks fartbegins nd ends ntheir stheticsurfaces,herewill be nothingtrangen theconcept f art and of itsplacein a humaneculture,s brieflyutlined bove. The pri-mary ources fthis ersian utlookmayhavebeen argelyPlatonic nd Neo-Platonic, uttheposition s a whole s quite niversal,ndcould as well be paralleledfrom ndian ormedieval hristians fromGreek ources; tis, nfact, position nwhich hewholeworldhasbeen greed. shallonlyhint t this ni-versality ya citation f two examples, hatof St. Thomas Aquinas n commentn Dio-nysius reopagiticus,here e says hat thebeing esse) of all things erives rom he

25Ibid.,V, lines3727-28.28 Dara Shikuih,p. cit., hapter.27 Symposium, I97, A.28 Purgatorio,4, lines52-54.29Romans, , line20.30Mathnawi,I, lines759-62; seealso BhagavadGitd,VII, line25.1DeutscheMystikerdes dreizehnten ahrhun-derts, d. F. PfeifferLeipzig, I845-57), II, p. 333.

Divine Beauty," 2 and that of the Buddhawho, n connectionith heart of teachinsaid: "Themaster-painterisposes iscolorfor he sake of a picturehat annot e seenin the olors hemselves."8ANANDAK. COOMARASWAMYUNE REPRESENTATION DE LA CITADELLESELJOUKIDE DE MERVDans une etuderecemmentubliee,lem'etais ttacheamontrerue deuxplatsdem'tal habituellementonsideresomme assanidesetaient n fait des oeuvresmusumanes.L'un de cesobjets, onserve Leningradau Museede l'HermitageFig. i), estparticulierementigned'interet,n ce senqu'ony voit figureene scenede caracterhistorique. 'une part, e chateau ui enoccupe e centre st ndubitablementuneconstructionslamiqueont emodele oit e trouverau Turkestantqui nedoitpas etre nterieurea la findu XIeme s. de notre re."D'autre part,diversdetailscaracteristiquamenent chercher'explicatione la scen"dans e cadredesJitatsurcs uMoyen-AgSeldjoukidest dynastiesssuesd'eux": sonneurs e corescortantnmahmal,ouveraisemontrantla tarima uchateau,tendarddeployesurmontes'unti-h. Surce derniepoint,e puisetre ujourd'huilusaffirmaencore,ar en'avais lors rouvem'appuyequantal'aspect usandjak, mperial,uesurdes documentsosterieursux Seldjoukidetandis ue epuismaintenantnvoquern ext

82 Opera Omnia (Parma, I864), Opusc., VII,C. 4, line5.33Lankdvattraitra, II, lines I2-114.1 "Remarques sur les monuments meyyadeII. ArgenteriesSassanides,"' MeAlangessiatique[Journalsiatique],940-4I, 19-57; j'yrenvoieourle detailde la discussion,me bornant rappelercil'essentiel.

note on the philosophy of persian art.pdf

Documents