4to. xiii, 349 pp., [1], double page map, profusely illustrated in 345 illustrations, mostly in colour, cloth in d/w, index, biblio, light crease to jacket at top spine, otherwise copy in mint condition, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2002.

Synopsis

This magnificent book is the first survey of the figural arts of the Iranian world from prehistoric times to the early twentieth century ever to consider themes, rather than styles. Analyzing primarily painting—in manuscripts and albums, on walls and on lacquered, painted pen boxes and caskets—but also the related arts of sculpture, ceramics, and metalwork, the author finds that the underlying themes depicted on them through the ages are remarkably consistent.