Cartier Hafiz

The Celebration of Id has two verses from a ghazal of Hafez inscribed by the painter on top of the palace: This verse was initially composed by Hafez circa 1376, for his ruler the Muzaffarid king Shah Shoja. The ruler enthroned in the center of the 16th century painting is certainly the Safavid Shah Tahmasp. On the throne, at the feet of his ruler, Sultan Muhammad added his signature: "The work (amal) of Sultan Muhammad of 'Eraq". Various adjectives fit for a king surround the signature: victory (fatḥ), [divine] assistance (nuṣrat), good fortune (dawlat), triumph (pirūzī), and [long] life (`umr). "Sam Mirza" doorway inscription Later, the manuscript apparently entered into the possession of Tahmasp's brother Sam Mirza. Sam Mirza added his name over the doorway. The added text reads "al-Hādī Abu’l-Muzaffar Sam Mīrzā" ("The Guide, the Victorious Father, Sam Mīrzā"). "The Guide" was normally a title reserved to Shah Ismail himself or to Tahmasp, and the title "Abu’l-Muzaffar" belonged to Tahmasp as well (whereas Sam Mirza used "Abu’l-Nasr" in his titulature). According to Soudavar, the script of this sentence above the doorway is markedly inferior to that of the inscription on top of the palace: it was hastily written, and lacks the fine black outline. It is also not properly centered, and even starts outside of the miniature, as the first two letter ("al") are written in the margin. It was not written in the hand of Sultan-Muhammad, and is a later addition. The original inscription must therefore have belonged to Shah Tahmasp, and was modified later. Also, the other elements in the painting (iconography and verses), make it clear that the subject of the painting is the king, whereas Sam Mirza was only a young Governor of Herat (14 years old), under the tutelage of Hoseyn Khan Shamlu when the miniatures were made. Only later in 1534 did Huseyn Khan Shamlu try to topple Shah Tahmasp and replace him with Sam Mirza, during the wars with the Ottomans. The inscription may suggest some attempt at symbolical usurpation, Sam Mirza trying to put himself in the royal place of his brother Shah Tahmasp, claiming for himself both the titulatures of Shah Ismail and Shah Tashmap. Earlier authors, such as Gray (1961) or Stuart Gary Welch (1976) used to attribute the painting as a depiction of Sam Mirza and his court without further questioning the validity of the inscription over the doorway. ==Allegory of drunkenness==

appears in the window over the jars, painted by Sultan Mohammed circa 1531. Also called Worldly and otherworldly drunkenness, a work by Sultan Mohammed, and signed by him over the doorway in the miniature. It was created in Tabriz in 1531–33. The painting shows drinking in a tavern, with much singing and dancing. Even angels are drinking and reveling on the roof of the pavilion, providing a metaphysical dimension to the state of drunkenness, akin to enlightenment. Depiction of Hafiz, painted by Sultan Muhammad circa 1531, Cartier Hafiz.jpg|Depiction of Hafez holding a book, his physiognomy suggesting an altered state. This painting was created during the time when Sam Mirza was a refugee at the court of his brother Shah Tahmasp in Tabriz, having fled Herat, invaded by the Uzbeks of the Khanate of Bukhara. The style of Sultan Mohhamad is a synthesis of Turkmen and Timurid styles, drawing from the palette of the royal Turkmen painting style of late 15th century Tabriz, while its structuration derives from the Timurid art of Herat. His paintings also convey a sense of humor, perceivable in the expressions of his protagonists. ==Other miniatures==

File:Binding front cover with flap closed.jpg|Binding, front cover File:Incident in a Mosque.jpg|Sermon in a mosque. The central repentant appears to be Hoseyn Khan Shamlu. File:Sam Mirza standing before Hosayn Khan whose polo stick supposedly rules the world (lost polo scene, full page). Circa 1530.jpg|Polo scene File:Lovers' picnic (Sam Mirza with female company), c.1527.jpg|The lovers picnicking ==References==