Islamic art
Monthly Archive: December Isla
Safavid Tile Project IV: The Artist behind the Arches
![Dragon Hunt, displayed in Wirth Gallery of the Middle East. Tile Arch, cuerda seca, Isfahan, Iran, c. 1685. Royal Ontario Museum Dragon Hunt, displayed in Wirth Gallery of the Middle East. Tile Arch, cuerda seca, Isfahan, Iran, c. 1685. Royal Ontario Museum](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom2019_17003_1.jpg?itok=AWe7_YBY)
Some of the most noticeable objects in the ROM's Wirth Gallery of The Middle East are two friezes of tiles that would have been in the spandrels of arches. These were made in Iran in the last third of the 17th century under the Safavid dynasty, probably for a palatial building in Isfahan. The ROM also has parts of other spandrel friezes, and also some stray tiles that belong to yet other friezes. In order to understand these objects more fully, ROM staff have been undertaking research on the tiles.
Safavid Tile Arch Project III: The Palace of the Stables
![Tile spandrels on the outside of the Hasht Behesht Palace, Isfahan (1669). Like the tiles we are studying these spandrels are also antithetical, one side of the arch being the inverse of the other. The arch displays the Lion and the Sun, an ancient Iranian symbol of royal power. These tiles were probably made by the same craftsmen as ours. (source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hasht_Behesht_Isfahan_Aarash_(7).jpg) Tiles over an archway.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/hasht_behesht_i_aarash_7.jpg?itok=lus5jmaN)
Written by Lisa Golombek, Curator Emeritus (Islamic Art)
Safavid Tile Project II: Rebuilding the Friezes
![976.298.123 Tiled arch frieze of dragon-slaying scene, made in Isfahan, Iran, Safavid Period 17th century AD; here photographed in the old ROM Islamic gallery 976.298.123 Tiled arch frieze of dragon-slaying scene, made in Isfahan, Iran, Safavid Period 17th century AD; here photographed in the old ROM Islamic gallery](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/frieze2.jpg?itok=3WhC2O6j)
The ROM's Wirth Gallery of The Middle East is blessed with two complete friezes of cuerda seca tiles that would have been in the spandrels of arches. These were made in Iran in the last third of the 17th century under the Safavid dynasty, probably in Isfahan. They were bought by the ROM in 1974 by Curator Lisa Golombek together with a number of other tiles that make up parts of these friezes, or sometimes individual tiles.
Safavid Tile Project I: The Technology
![976.298.6-47 one of the ROM's complete Safavid tile friezes, of a picnic scene, photographed here in the old ROM galleries from the 1980's. 976.298.6-47 one of the ROM's complete Safavid tile friezes, of a picnic scene, photographed here in the old ROM galleries from the 1980's.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/frieze_websize.jpg?itok=NLN_j9tx)
Some of the most noticeable objects in the ROM's Wirth Gallery of The Middle East are two friezes of tiles that would have been in the spandrels of arches. These were made in Iran in the last third of the 17th century under the Safavid dynasty, probably for a palatial building in Isfahan. The ROM also has parts of other spandrel friezes, and also some stray tiles that belong to yet other friezes. In order to understand these objects more fully, ROM staff have been undertaking research on the tiles.