The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353

The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353

Various authors
2002
336 pages
280 illustrations
College Art Association Alfred H. Barr Jr. Book Award, Winner (2004)
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Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, nomadic horsemen burst out of Mongolia in the thirteenth century and began their sweep across Asia, creating the largest empire the world has ever known. Particularly in Iran and China, the results were far-reaching: the Mongols imposed enormous changes but at the same time were profoundly influenced by the highly developed civilization of their new subjects. Greater Iran was ruled for a century (1256–1353) by the Mongol dynasty known as the Ilkhanids. These Mongol masters first opposed and then enthusiastically adopted Islam. They became sponsors of a brilliant cultural flowering that encompassed the writing of histories, city-building, and many branches of the arts. Local Persian artistic traditions were themselves transformed by Mongol preferences and by contacts with the arts of Europe and especially China, as wares and craftsmen from China and Iran traveled back and forth across the empire.

The arts of the book attained glorious heights under the Ilkhanids. Large Korans were copied by the best calligraphers and their opening pages illuminated with intricate decoration. The figural illustration of secular objects was greatly expanded and, applied to literary and historical works, became a significant means of legitimizing the Mongols' reign. The masterpiece of this era is the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings); its dramatic and varied paintings illustrate an epic poem that weaves together legends about the early kings of Iran. Although the manuscript was later dismembered, many of its magnificent illustrations survive, and twenty-six of them are included in this catalogue.

While the Ilkhanids retained the nomadic practice of moving from place to place and holding court in elaborate tents, they also commissioned permanent pleasure palaces lined with richly decorated ceramic tiles. Jewelry and finely worked metal objects were produced in abundance, as were textiles woven with gold. Mosques and mausoleums, built on a grand scale, were lavishly furnished.

More than two hundred outstanding objects exemplifying all these branches of the arts are illustrated in color and fully described in this catalogue. Eight distinguished scholars in the field present the historical and political background of the Ilkhanid era and address such subjects as manuscript illustration, religious art, and the transmission of design motifs across Asia. Also included are two technical studies, maps, a genealogical chart, and a complete bibliography.

Six Horses, Unidentified artists, Handscroll; ink and color on paper, China
Unidentified artists
13th–14th century
Frieze Tile with Two Hunters, Stonepaste; molded, inglaze painted in blue and turquoise, luster-painted on opaque white glaze
second half 13th century
Safe Conduct Pass (Paiza) with Inscription in Phakpa Script

, Iron with silver inlay, China
China
late 13th century
Jewelry Elements, Gold sheet; worked, chased, and set  with turquoise, gray chalcedony, and glass
late 14th–16th century
Tile with Image of Phoenix, Stonepaste; modeled, underglaze painted in blue and turquoise, luster-painted on opaque white ground
late 13th century
Vajrabhairava mandala, Silk tapestry (kesi), China
China
ca. 1330–32
Tile From an Inscriptional Frieze, Stonepaste; underglaze painted in blue, luster-painted on opaque white ground, modeled
dated 707 AH/1308 CE
Tile from a Mihrab, Stonepaste; modeled, painted under transparent glaze
dated 722 AH/1322–23 CE
Stand for a Qur'an Manuscript, Zain(?) Hasan Sulaiman Isfahani  Iranian, Wood (teak); carved, painted, and inlaid
Zain(?) Hasan Sulaiman Isfahani
dated 761 AH/1360 CE
"Buzurgmihr Masters the Game of Chess", Folio from the First Small Shahnama (Book of Kings), Abu'l Qasim Firdausi  Iranian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
ca. 1300–30
Textile with Coiled Dragons, Plain-weave silk brocaded with metallic thread, China
China
Panel with Phoenixes and Flowers, Silk and metallic thread embroidery on silk gauze, China
China
14th century
Large Jar, Stonepaste; monochrome glazed, modeled
dated 681 AH/1282–83 CE
Textile with Aquatic Birds and Recumbent Animal, Silk tapestry (kesi), Eastern Central Asia or North China
Eastern Central Asia or North China
13th century
Welcoming spring, Unidentified artist Chinese, 14th–15th century, Silk embroidery on silk gauze, China
Unidentified artist
15th century
Tile Panel in the form of an Architectural Niche, Hasan ibn `Ali ibn Ahmad  Babavaih  Iranian, Stonepaste; inglaze painted in blue, luster-painted on opaque white glaze, modeled
Hasan ibn `Ali ibn Ahmad Babavaih
first half 14th century
Bowl with Fish Motifs, Stonepaste; molded and glazed
first half 14th century
Covered Jar (Albarello), Stonepaste; overglaze painted and leaf gilded (lajvardina)
second half 13th–14th century
"Nushirvan Receives Mihras, Envoy of Caesar", Folio from the First Small Shahnama (Book of Kings), Abu'l Qasim Firdausi  Iranian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
ca. 1300–30
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript, Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri
Muhammad ibn Aibak ibn 'Abdallah
dated 707 AH/1307–8 CE
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Komaroff, Linda, Stefano Carboni, and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), eds. 2002. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York : [New Haven]: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; [Distributed by Yale University Press].