Dietz Albums Recount a Lost Chapter of Iranian Painting History

Azadeh Latifkar considers the Dietz Albums an under-recognized yet important source for studying Iranian painting in the Ilkhanid period. Due to its complex historical journey from Iran to the Ottoman Empire and then Berlin, the collection carries added significance in art history studies.

Iranian Ambassador Arjan Art Service (Ambassador Arjan); Marqaat Deets is one of the lesser known but important sources for the study of Iranian painting in the Ilkhanid period; A collection that includes works with various themes and functions, and because of the complex historical path that it traveled from Iran to the Ottoman Empire and then to Berlin, has a double importance in art history studies. The collection of articles recently published in the book "From the history of kings to the story of the people: Iranian paintings in the Marqaat Deets" written by David J. Roxborough, Charles Melville, Bernard Ekin and Karen Rourdants, translated by Azadeh Latifkar, published by Nei Publishing House in the "Dar Iklimah Honar" collection, by focusing on a part of these passages, it provides the possibility of familiarizing the Persian speaking audience with the research done on these works. This conversation begins with how Azadeh Latifkar came to know the Dates scrolls and the motivation for translating the articles, and then the importance of this collection in understanding the paintings of the Ilkhanate period, the influence of Mongolian culture on Iranian art, the place of the Shahnameh and pictorial historiography, the representation of life and folk tales, as well as the importance of the designs in these scrolls are discussed.

How did you get to know Deets's Marqaat and why did you choose a series of specialized articles about these Marqaat to translate and publish?

When I was writing my doctoral thesis at the University of Arts, the subject of my work was illustrated books of the Ilkhanid period and naturally their paintings. When you look at the Ilkhani period, one of the important sources is the Deets manuscripts. At that time, I think in 1395, these manuscripts had just been digitized and the Berlin Library had published them on its website. When I went to this collection, apart from the main subject of my work, I was really fascinated by it. I would go ahead and use the images I needed, but at the same time, I would often go back to the patches and search for their papers on the site, see the different images, and read about the patches and the resources related to them. I translated part of these articles and three, four other articles at the same time for my dissertation. When it was decided to publish the collection "In the Climate of Art", with the consultation I had with Amir Maziar, we came to the conclusion that these articles can be an interesting and useful collection for Persian-speaking readers interested in Iranian painting. Finally, I suggested a selection of them, the section in question was more focused on painting.

If we want to talk more precisely about the reason for this focus, what was the characteristic of the paintings in the Deets paintings that made them important and translatable for a collection? Especially considering that in the studies of Ilkhani painting, we are usually faced with several prominent and well-known works, what do these paintings add to our image of that period?

One of the reasons was the focus on paintings of the 8th century, i.e. Ilkhani and Jalayri periods; Paintings that are less known. From this period, we know masterpieces such as the Great Shahnameh, but there are other works that have been seen much less, especially the works whose Mongolian side is more prominent and the influences that came from the Chinese side or the Mongolian identity are more visible in them. As we can see in the second article of this book, "The image of the Turkish-Mongol period in the pages of Deets" written by Charles Melville, there are discussions about the history and life of the Mongols, which are very important for understanding the historical atmosphere of the works. A group of paintings also represent folk tales; A subject that has been prevalent in Iranian painting for a while and has been largely forgotten. All in all, these factors led us to conclude that these articles can be a suitable choice for translation. Of course, first of all, the patches themselves should have been introduced, and Roxborough's article is very important in this regard. Even though a lot of time has passed since the publication of that article, most of its discussions are still valid and subsequent articles have also referred to it regularly.

It can be said that this project started from a personal interest and academic research and finally it has reached a wider concern about providing resources for Iranian researchers. How did this transformation of a source used in the treatise into a book for a more general audience happen?

Yes, the story of translating the articles started from the doctoral thesis and then I came to the conclusion that it can be a useful source for researchers and fans of Iranian painting. Because it helps to form a more comprehensive image of Iranian painting in their minds and questions some prejudices. Just as at the end of writing the treatise, compared to the beginning, a completely different picture of Iranian painting had formed in my mind.

In the book, four articles from different researchers have been selected. Were there other articles on Deets patches that were left out due to subject limitations or the structure of the book? Or was your selection based solely on the articles you had access to?

Articles have been selected from three sources. In 2013, a conference was held in Berlin with the presence of a group of prominent experts in Iranian painting. They examined different aspects of the patches; From general structure and restoration and conservation discussions to lines and calligraphy, designs and which edition each drawing sheet might belong to. The book of articles of this conference was published in 2016 under the title "Death's Marks: Context and Content". I chose two articles, that is, Charles Melville's article and Bernard Akin's article from this collection. The fourth article is selected from another book titled "The Mongol Middle East: Continuity and Transformation in Ilkhanid Iran", a part of which is dedicated to art and culture during the Ilkhanid period. In this section, an article written by Karen Rordants has been published, which focuses on the subject of paintings in books with the subject of folk tales. I thought this article could complement my mental puzzle about Iranian painting in that period.

This term "puzzle complement" that you used is interesting. If we want to reconstruct this puzzle more precisely, what part of the overall image of Iranian painting in the 8th century do each of these articles represent?

In Melville's article, a part of court and official paintings related to Mughal history is examined. Ekin's article introduces an unknown version of Shahnameh and calls it Jalari's Great Shahnameh. Shahnameh has always had a very important identity function for Iranians. In the 8th century, Iranians continued to perpetuate their identity through the Shahnameh, and on the other hand, the Mongols, and to be more precise, the patriarchs who ruled Iran and their subordinate governments, tried to redefine the legitimacy of their rule through the Shahnameh. The fourth article, that is, Rordantes's article, partially shows the atmosphere of popular and more general literature of the 8th century society. Of course, I say this with condescension, because we know that before the invention of printing, the book was mostly in the possession of properties. But the same properties sometimes read lighter stories and even ordered illustrated versions of it based on Rordants' article. Therefore, this article was a supplement to the puzzle that I had in mind about Iranian painting of that period, and the first article was also necessary to introduce the whole of Marqaat; Where did these patches come from, how did they go from Iran to Istanbul, and how did they end up in Berlin after Istanbul? What sources are the parts in them taken from? How and when they were bound and questions like these.

So, before we get into the visual content of the paintings, the history of their migration and history is an independent and significant issue. For the audience who may not be basically familiar with the concept of "marqa", tell me what is marqa and what path did Ditz's marqaat take from Iran to Berlin?

In simple language, Marqa is a collection of pieces of calligraphy, gilding, and painting, which were collected from various sources and bound into an exquisite work. Compilation of marqaat was sometimes ordered by the kings and nobles to the art experts of their time, and sometimes, like Deets' marqaat, they were probably compiled by the collectors of works. In the case of Deets scrolls, part of the works are most likely taken from the copies or scrolls that were compiled in the Timurid and Safavid eras and after the defeat of the Safavids against the Ottomans in the Battle of Chaldaran, they were transferred from the royal library of Tabriz to the royal library of the Ottoman king in Istanbul. These works remain there until the middle of the 18th century. Until a person named Dietz, who was very interested in books and was the ambassador of the Prussian Empire in the Ottoman Empire, started visiting the Istanbul book market and buying old books and copies. Apparently, he met one of the servants of the shrine of Topqapi Palace, and through him he could buy some paintings and books or obtain them in some other way. How exactly these works left the palace is a matter of debate; Whether they were really bought officially or sold to him out of the palace. It was probably the second case.

Dietz binds these images in a five-fold format. It seems that the collection that is formed shows a relative historical course to some extent, and this shows that Deets or another person who supervised the binding of the covers was familiar with Iranian painting and its history. In addition to these manuscripts, he also collected a number of manuscripts from various sources and took them with him to Berlin. After his death, according to his will, these works were donated to the Berlin Royal Library, today the Berlin State Library. For about a century, these works remain anonymously in the library. During the Second World War, the Berlin library was bombed, but these works were miraculously saved, because they were temporarily transferred to the Tübingen city library along with a number of other works. After the war, Ditz collections are noticed and research about them begins. Thus, this historical trajectory itself is an important part of the Marqat story, and Roxborough's essay explains a great deal of this history.

If we look at Deets scrolls not only as an art collection, but as a historical document, what do they add to the historiography of Iranian art? Why is access to such a collection important for research on the painting of the pre-Safawi period?

The Deets scrolls themselves are a very important source in historiography, because they provide us with images that have been separated from different books and collections and, naturally, have not been accessible for a long time. As I mentioned, a large part of Iranian works from the pre-Safawi era were taken away from Iran during the war with the Ottomans. Many of these works are kept in the Topqapi library, and it is very difficult to access the resources of that library. In recent years, researchers have been able to access some of these sources in different ways, but with difficulty, but access is still very difficult. Therefore, any source that can clarify our image of the pre-Safawi period is important. Despite the many researches that have been done about the painting before Safavid era, more studies are still focused on specific topics such as Shahnamehs. In my opinion, Ilkhani period followed by Jalairi is a period in which the foundations of Iranian painting as we know it later are formed; Especially because of the extensive cultural contacts and exchanges that followed the Mongol invasion, despite its devastating nature. But we still do not have a complete knowledge of this period, because a large part of the sources have been lost or are locked in different libraries, and there are very few sources left from that period in Iran. In such a situation, a collection like Marqaat Deets, which contains a large number of images from this period, can help clarify the nature of Iranian painting in that period.

One of the important topics in the study of Ilkhani art is the influence of Mongolian and Chinese culture. Do Deets' paintings provide the possibility to go beyond the simple duality of Iranian painting and foreign influence and talk about a kind of cultural mixing?

Yes, exactly. When you look at the pictures, you can see how Mongolian culture and tradition have been effective in shaping the structure of some of the paintings. Sometimes it is said that Mongols have always defined themselves within the framework of Iranian culture, but when you examine the images more closely, you will see that Mongolian culture and tradition are seriously present in them. At the same time, these eventually become one work with the vocabulary of Iranian painting, which itself is a mixture of different artistic traditions. Therefore, we are faced with a cultural intermingling; Different elements enter, combine and become the language and vocabulary of Iranian painting. Deets patches can be very important to check this process.

If we move away from the discussion of the history of kings and reach more social issues, it seems that one of the important features of the collection is the thematic diversity of the images. From Mongol history and Shahnameh to folk tales and the lives of ordinary people. What kind of image does this diversity provide of the society and culture of the Ilkhanid period?

This is an important question. When we look at the second essay, we see that Melville focuses on the versions of the "Comprehensive Chronicles", especially the part about the history of the Mughals themselves. The main question is how the history of the Mongols is represented and depicted in this book and how their characteristics are shown. One of the very interesting examples is the presence of women in court images of this period. Mughal women had a special place in political power, and it can be said that this period is one of the few periods or even the only period when women, for example the wife of a Mughal Khan or his daughters, are represented on the throne next to the Shah or Khan or in official meetings. In the second article, we are faced with history and we have a picture of Mongol history, or more precisely, the history of Ilkhans. In the third article, we have Shahnameh, which is somehow related to the history of kings; When we see the Shahnameh itself as a source about the kings of ancient Iran, and when the question is raised, why were illustrated versions of the Shahnameh produced during the Ilkhanid period and after the Timurid period. As I said, the Shahnameh was a source for the Ilkhans to redefine the legitimacy of ruling over Iran. They considered themselves to be the heirs of the kings of the Shahnameh, and naturally the Shahnameh and its depiction became a legitimizing source. But in the last article, "From Mongol to Timurid: perfection and imperfection in Iranian painting", we are faced with folk tales; The stories that are in a book like "Sandbadnameh". Here we are faced with simpler and more imaginative narratives and characters such as ordinary people, Ayars, dervishes, fishermen, sailors and strange people enter the picture. If we want to see the range of topics of Iranian painting in the 8th century, we have at our disposal, from the history of kings and the Shahnameh to folk tales.

What is the importance of this diversity of subjects in terms of the social history of art? Can we say that these images are not only important for knowing the style and technique of painting and can provide information about the social imagination and even different groups of the society of that period?

It is precisely for this reason that these images should not be examined only from the point of view of the history of style and form. When we see images from folktales, we are actually seeing part of the social imagination of that period. These works show that Iranian painting in the 8th century, contrary to popular belief, was not limited to the history of kings or official narratives, and that there was a wide range of subjects in it. This diversity is a subject that can become important for the social history of art.

In your speech, you mentioned several times the designs in the patches and considered them to be very valuable parts of the collection. Why are designs particularly important for the research of Ilkhani period art? What information can be obtained through these drawings that cannot be obtained from finished paintings?

I think the designs in the patches are one of their most valuable parts. Designs are not always finished designs; There are also workshop exercises and unfinished works in them. Sometimes you even see that there are several versions of the same design that have been made with changes on top of each other. There are also designs that have been used for other arts. For example, a design may have been prepared and then transferred to the fabric. In these areas, we have examples of the method of harvesting; That is, the lines of the design were made with small holes with a needle, and then the design was transferred to the lower surface by grinding the charcoal round. This surface could be paper, fabric or even the surface of clay used to make, for example, tiles. Therefore, the designs provide us with very interesting information about the production process. Besides, they are not only figurative designs; We have a large number of decorative, geometric, plant and animal designs of excellent quality. There are even compositional etudes. It means that the artist has prepared a very general plan of the composition that he had in mind to refer to during the performance stage. The design section is very valuable as a research topic, and I am personally interested in translating the article related to this section or even writing about it if there is an opportunity.

Considering that there are other articles about design, calligraphy, and even other aspects of painting in Marqaat, can we expect that in the future, other parts of these studies will also be available to the Persian-speaking audience?

Yes, other articles have been written about paintings, but due to the limitation we had in the title of the book and considering my focus on the 8th century and various aspects of Iranian painting, I have addressed these articles. I myself am very interested in translating other articles from the same conference book that I mentioned, if there is an opportunity to publish them, they have very interesting content. There are two or three articles about the designs in the scrolls, we have a good article about the calligraphy found in the scrolls, and there is another article about the paintings of the Ilkhanid period, which I omitted for some reason, because it mostly examines the historical aspects of the paintings.

If we want to go one step further from a research point of view, what are the most important issues that have not been investigated enough about Ditz patches and can be the subject of future research?

I think the design department is one of the most important areas. As I said, these designs are not just independent works, but show a part of the artistic production process; Exercises, etudes, sampling, compositional designs and even transferring the role to other levels. On the other hand, the variety of works available in Marqat also has a great research capacity. In addition to the paintings of Ilkhani and Jalayri, there are a collection of works from other periods in these manuscripts that remain unidentified or pieces of calligraphy that may illuminate some of the dark parts of the history of Iranian calligraphy, including works attributed to Jafar Baisanghari.

If we want to go beyond the pages and talk about the state of art history research in Iran, what is the most important need of researchers and students in this field today? Is the main problem the lack of resources, the difficulty of accessing external resources, or the weakness in connection with current research trends in the world?

I think all these issues are related. We really need to read the works of domestic and foreign researchers without prejudice. It is very important to read these works carefully without prejudice. Sometimes I hear things about rejecting the western perspective or, on the contrary, underestimating domestic research. In my opinion, we should read the works without prejudice and be aware of current research approaches and trends. This work can broaden our horizons as researchers, and naturally, when the horizons broaden, new questions are formed and we can go beyond repetitive questions and repetitive answers. Besides that, institutions that are in charge of this field should support authoring and translation. With the current conditions of the society, it becomes more difficult for researchers and students to access resources. If these supports are not there, we will naturally lag behind in terms of knowledge. For example, in our neighborhood, a country like Türkiye supports research well, and researchers in international circles do not have our limitations. On the other hand, the communication of Iranian researchers inside the country with researchers outside Iran and international forums has improved a lot due to the Internet, but it is still not in a favorable situation. Still, access to resources, the cost of providing resources and publishing up-to-date resources is a serious issue for students and researchers, especially independent researchers. I think this issue is very important, and one of the goals of the collection "In the Climate of Art" is to publish sources that can broaden the horizons of researchers and students, raise new questions, and motivate more serious research.

Azadeh Latifkar considers Deets scrolls as one of the lesser-known but important sources for the study of Iranian painting in the Ilkhanid period, a collection that has double importance in the study of art history due to the complex historical path that it traveled from Iran to the Ottoman Empire and then to Berlin.

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