Farangi-Sazi (Persian: ÃÂñÃÂïÃÂâÂÂóçòÃÂ, lit.âÂÂ'making in an Occidental manner') was a style of Persian painting that originated in Safavid Iran in the second half of the 17th century. This style of painting emerged during the reign of Shah Abbas II (r.âÂÂ1642âÂÂ1666), but first became prominent under Shah Solayman I (r.âÂÂ1666âÂÂ1694).
Farangi-sazi paintings depicted many types of different scenarios, varying from traditional Iranian scenes, such as portrayal of kings and aristocrats, to European depictions, sceneries, biblical, and mythological events. The style because an item of significance, for it was used to amplify core values and beliefs in the Safavid community.
Only a few 17th-century artists made paintings in the style of Farangi-sazi, with the most prominent ones being Aliqoli Jebadar, an artist that raised through the ranks of the Safavid court, and Mohammad Zaman, the one who introduced Farangi-sazi and the painter of one of the most famous Farangi-sazi paintings: Bahram Gor with the Indian Princess.
Note: "Saz" refers to the artists and "sazi" their works.
The term "Farangi-sazi" as used today seems to have developed in the early 20th century. Specific to late Safavid painting & its derivatives, it excludes the work of later European-trained painters like Sani al-Mulk and Kamal ol-Molk. The word, Farangi, means "Frank" in English, deriving from the word "Franc", as that word has been used in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to describe someone from European descent, a foreigner, or Western influence. Farangi-sazi, in simple terms, means "Frank style", or European art style.
The 17th century artist Jani sometimes signed his paintings "Farangi saz" while he was working for a doctor in Isfahan. He filled a forty-five page sketchbook for him, but outside of that, no other contemporary use of the term is known.
Per Negar Habibi, "Farangi-sazi" requires more than a "discreet use of a European technique, a mere presence of chiaroscuro or perspective... The Occidentalist character of some late 17th-century Persian paintings is borne out by the presence of European cultural elements, not in an exhaustive or scientific way, but rather in order to capture some evocative traits and fantasies.â Many of these said "fantasies" includes stories from noble courts and religion, both from Christianity and Islam.
Multiple methods and manners were added into the traditional artwork to create "Farangi-Sazi." Innovations associated with "Farangi-Sazi" include the following:
Despite taking heavy inspiration from these standards, these innovations don't always strictly follow European conventions. The direction of lighting, for example, is often unclear except in candlelit night scenes, and its exposure is often inconsistent.
Source:
Muhammad Zaman seems to have been active between 1649 and 1704. He died sometime before 1720-21. Very little is known about his life aside from his (and his pupils') inscriptions.There was a belief that he studied in Rome, converted to Christianity, and fled to India, however that has been rejected by Anatoly Ivanov, a Russian interdisciplinary artist, and other art creators.
He is best known for his narrative illustrations for the Khamsa of Nizami and the Shahnameh as well as his variants on European prints. He is sometimes known as "the father of Farangi-Sazi".
He is often associated with the signature "ya sahib al-zaman", however he wasn't the only one to have used it. Family
Not much is known about his family, but he did have a brother named Haji Muhammad Ebrahim and two sons, named Muhammad Ali & Muhammad Yusuf, all of which were artists themselves.
Haji Muhammad Ebrahim produced some surviving lacquer paintings. He may have worked with his brother on a privately commissioned Khamsa in the Morgan Library; however, this attribution has been disputed.
His last name, Jabbadar, suggests that Aliquli Jabbadar was a steward of the Royal Armoury (Jebakhana).
It is speculated that he is from Georgian or Albanian origin, based on details in his inscriptions, like referring himself as farangi , "the Frank". He also referred himself as ghulÃÂmzÃÂda-i qadimi ("former slave"), beg ("lord"), naqqash-bashi ("head of mosaics") and jabbadÃÂr ("keeper of the armory").
Close copies of European prints are rare. Instead, his derivative works are often composites of elements taken from multiple sources. Per Habibi, his work is characterized by bright colors, a rejection of outline, and an avoidance of heavy contrasts.
He also produced group portraits recording court ceremony & activities. Several are in the St. Petersburg Muraqqa. Many of his other art pieces remain in museums in Russia and the United States.
After Tahmasp's closed in 1555, miniature production shifted towards standalone pieces, spawning new genres like single-figure portraits and the nude. These also included ghulam-i farangi, depictions of young men in European dress reflecting the growing European presence in Abbas I's reign.
European prints made an impression on local artists, occasionally leading to the borrowing of poses and motifs. Take the series below, which Stuart Cary Welch suggested was based on a Marcantonio Raimondi engraving.European visitors often brought works of art as gifts to the Safavid court, and a few worked as artists themselves, like Philips Angel II (ca. 1653-55).
The New Julfa Armenian community also played a role in transmitting European artistic influence. A few poorly documented Armenian painters- "Marcos" and "Minas"- were producing oil-on-canvas portraits in Isfahan in the 1630s & 40s. Note similarities between the Europeanizing murals of Chehel Sotoun and some wall paintings in New Julfa; precedence uncertain.
The late Safavid Europeanizing style possibly originated in building projects like Chehel Sotoun (mid-1600s), whose wall paintings were a blend of variety of artistic traditions- Persian, European, Armenian.
European paintings & prints held in the Khazana & Jebakhana may also have served as a model. Aliquli Jabbadar's name suggests he was once a steward of the Jebakhana.
By the 1670s, Farangi sazi was used to depict quintessential Persian subjects: scenes from the Shahnameh & Nizami's Khamsa and contemporary court life.
The style was one of several that coexisted in the 17th century. Through Mu'in Musavvir and others, the tradition of Reza Abbasi persisted without strong European influence, while other artists like Sheikh Abbasi and his son worked in an Indian-influenced mode. Still others- among them Reza Abbasi's son - pioneered genres like the (flower and bird), sometimes influenced by European and Mughal models. These artists took cues selectively from European & Mughal conventions, adopting a new approach to light and shadow and to landscape.
The hybrid Isfahani style continued at regional centers like Shiraz after the fall of the Safavid state. Painters active in the style included Muhammad-Ali ibn Muhammad Zaman and Muhammad-Ali ibn Abdu'l Naaisha's Ibn Ali-Quli Jubbadar.
The style also survived in lacquer paintings like those of . 'Ali Ashraf had studied under Muhammad Zaman, and his designs bring to mind his teacher's treatment of flowers, which was further developed in the early Qajar period by Muhammad Hadi. Muhammad Sadiq, another painter who sometimes worked on lacquer, is also known for miniatures in the Europeanizing manner and for oil paintings in the Negarestan. Some credit to him the genre of portraiture that would define early Qajar court art decades later.
Album production reflected this continued interest in foreign styles. In the Afsharid-era St. Petersburg Muraqqa, freshly looted Mughal and Deccan miniatures (some of them Europeanizing) were placed alongside European prints and Safavid Farangi-sazi and framed with lavish decorative borders. Muhammad Baqir was one of the artists who worked on these borders; his floral decorations in the Europeanized Indo-Persian style are especially striking. Muhammad Baqir's work also included copies of European prints, copies of older Farangi-sazi, and oil-on-canvas portraits.
The Diez and Fatih Albums contain a few 14th/15th century Jalayirid or Timurid pieces inscribed as "kar-i-farang", possibly based on medieval French or Iberian models. The farangi manner's reputation for naturalism persisted through the Timurid era. The late Timurid poetAlisher Nava'i listed mastery of "farangi" and "khata'i" styles as skills one could expect from an illuminator. Although these terms were well established in the early 15th century, their use was often imprecise and their styles confused.
European folios from the mid-16th century Bahram Mirza album (Topkapi H. 2154), compiled in Safavid Tabriz, provide another glimpse into the reception of Western European art before the 17th century.
European artistic influences may also have arrived by way of Mughal and Deccan India.
The styles of Bahram Sofrakesh and Shaykh Abbasi reflect this influence explicitly, and Aliquli Jabbadar may have produced copies of early 17th century Mughal paintings.
Indian influence also contributed to the maturation of the genre in the mid-17th century under painters like . Related was a new genre of floral studies which took cues from Mughal European-influenced models.
Decades later, the campaigns of Nader Shah brought many looted Mughal and Deccan miniatures to Iran, where they were installed in muraqqas like the Davis and St. Petersburg Albums. Some miniatures may have been overpainted in Iran in the Persian Europeanizing style.
Single-flower studies:
See also: https://www.flickr.com/photos/persianpainting/16242329754
Muhammad Zaman's 17.7 ÃÂ 24.9 cm version from 1684/85 in the St. Petersburg Muraqqa is not shown. Link in footnote
The added top-left cloud can also be seen in Zaman's version.