Illuminated frontispiece

A typical 16th century Persianate frontispieces made for a Qur'an, from Herat, present day Afghanistan. Illuminators during the first half of the 16th century experimented with the double-page illuminated frontispiece. For example, the artist Shaykhzadah began using black backgrounds and invented new arabesque or scrollwork motifs. These motifs not only appeared in frontispieces, but were used as architectural ornamentation in manuscript paintings (Soudavar 1992: 193, 73c). Such decorative connections highlight the close relationship between illuminators and painters, who collaborated in the production of illuminated and illustrated manuscripts. This illuminated frontispiece is one of two pages that would have formed the opening double-page composition of a manuscript. It is possible that it belonged to a Qur'an. The title would have appeared in the top and bottom rectangular panels. The central medallion may have contained the beginning of the first chapter of the Qur'an entitled al-Fatihah (The Opening). It also may have served as a space for the work's dedication to a patron or blessings upon its owner. 1-85-154.87