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Organised by
Iran Heritage Foundation
Date
Wednesday 14th June, 18.30
Location
Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP
Description
In his 1574 account of a visit to Safavid Iran, the Venetian ambassador Vincenzo degli Alessandri made poignant remarks about Shah Tahmasp I’s lack of interest in statecraft. ‘Truly, one may say that this ruler was never prone to war… what he liked the most, and still does, are women and money. So much have they captured his mind that he spends most of his time in their company… casting geomantic figures on worldly affairs, and writing down dreams…”.
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Brass amulet inscribed in reverse with handle, 19th Century
(Qajar Dynasty) © The Trustees of the British Museum |
With the approaching of the Islamic millennium in 1591 and associated anxieties about the end of the world it is no surprise that Tahmasp showed so much interest in fortunetelling. The Shah had been trained years before in the arts of geomancy and oneiromancy (dream interpretation) by a court advisor, Remmal Haydar, and the spectacular Falnama or 'Book of Omens' commissioned by him in the mid-1550s survives as a further testimony of his interests in the occult. Yet Iran’s pursuit of divinatory sciences pre-dates the Safavid period, reflecting the status and relative importance that these disciplines had at both scholarly and courtly levels. Building on the recent exhibition ‘Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural’ this lecture will use a selection of fine objects and works of art to comment on the cultural significance of prophecy.
Biography
Dr Francesca Leoni is Assistant Keeper and Curator of Islamic Art at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, as well as Research Associate at the Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford. She has previously held curatorial and research posts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2008-2011), Rice University (2008-2010), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2007-2008).
Dr Leoni curated the recent exhibition ‘Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural’ at the Ashmolean Museum, which was the first large-scale installation to consider the impact of divinatory and amuletic practices on Islamic art and material culture.
In addition to the exhibition catalogue of Power and Protection, her books include Eros and Sexuality in Islamic Art (co-edited with Mika Natif, 2013) and Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam (co-authored with Ladan Akbarnia, 2010). She is currently working on the proceedings of the conference ‘Islamic Occultism in Theory and Practice’ held earlier this year in Oxford.
Dr Leoni curated the recent exhibition ‘Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural’ at the Ashmolean Museum, which was the first large-scale installation to consider the impact of divinatory and amuletic practices on Islamic art and material culture.
In addition to the exhibition catalogue of Power and Protection, her books include Eros and Sexuality in Islamic Art (co-edited with Mika Natif, 2013) and Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam (co-authored with Ladan Akbarnia, 2010). She is currently working on the proceedings of the conference ‘Islamic Occultism in Theory and Practice’ held earlier this year in Oxford.
