The Old Woman Complaining to Sultan Sanjar - Sultan Muhammad

A fine art print of a 16th-century Persian miniature by Sultan Muhammad, depicting a scene from the Khamsa of Nizami.

This exquisite miniature, attributed to the master painter Sultan Muhammad, originates from the celebrated Shah Tahmasp Khamsa of Nizami. The scene depicts a narrative moment from the Makhzan al-Asrar, or Treasury of Mysteries, where an elderly woman confronts Sultan Sanjar to seek justice against the oppression of his officials.

The composition is characteristic of the Tabriz school during the Safavid period. It employs a high horizon line, allowing for a detailed arrangement of figures across the golden, undulating terrain. Sultan Sanjar is depicted on horseback, surrounded by his retinue, while the old woman stands before him in a gesture of petition. The artist balances the royal procession with the natural world, incorporating rocky outcrops, flowering shrubs, and a sky filled with delicate cloud formations.

Sultan Muhammad is recognised for his ability to integrate human drama with a decorative, almost jewel-like aesthetic. The figures are rendered with precise brushwork, and their garments display a variety of patterns and colours. The use of gold leaf throughout the ground and sky provides a sense of luminosity, common in high-quality courtly manuscripts of the sixteenth century. The work is framed by an illuminated border, which reflects the meticulous craftsmanship involved in the production of royal books. This print captures the fine detail of the original manuscript page, preserving the narrative clarity and the stylistic conventions of Persian court painting. It offers a window into the literary and artistic culture of the Safavid court, where poetry and visual art were closely intertwined.