Art of the Book

In: Iranian studies, Band 31, Heft 3-4, S. 361-369

Abstract

Approximately Sixty Entries in Volumes I-VI of Encyclopaedia Iranica deal with painting and calligraphy in Islamic Iran. While Priscilla Soucek has contributed many of these, other authors include Dorothea Duda, B.W. Robinson, Barbara Schmitz, M. Dabirsiaqi, A.S. Shahbazi and Thomas Lentz. Anthony Welch, Jennifer Scarce, G. A. Pugachenkova, Soucek, and Robinson have also written general entries on art in Iran in the Islamic period. Rather than treat each entry individually, this review will assess the contribution of each author, characterizing his or her approach and noting some but not all of the entries on painters and calligraphers and their work. Additionally, this review will consider James Allan's article on ARMOR, May Beattie's on the ARDABIL CARPET, Dorothy Thompson's on silk (ABRĪŠAM), and 34 articles on CARPETS and CLOTHING.Taken as a whole, the 34 entries by Priscilla Soucek validate her reputation as an extremely rigorous scholar of Iranian painting and calligraphy. Professor Soucek's entries raise our hopes that she will eventually publish the definitive book on these fields.