Ulugh Beg, eldest son of Shah Rukh, seated on a carpet, Samarqand, 1435-1440

Ulugh Beg with ladies of his harem and retainers
Historical period: Timurid period, 1425-1450
Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 31.7 x 24.1 cm (12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in)
Geography: Uzbekistan
Accession Number: F1946.26
Classification: Painting
Label: The right half of a double- page frontispiece, this remarkable painting depicts Ulugh Beg (1393-1449), a grandson of Timur (Tamerlane), the founder of the powerful Timurid dyansty of Iran and central Asia (1370-1506). An accomplished bibliophile, historian, mathematician, and above all, an astronomer, Ulugh Beg built a celebrated observatory in Samarqand. In this painting, he is shown in a ceremonial courtly setting, which often was held in the open air. While the composition conforms to the norms of Timurid pictorial style, with its emphasis on idealized figural types, two-dimensional spaces, and finely painted surfaces, the bold, saturated colors are unusal and may be a particular feature of fifteenth-century painting from Samarqand.
Ulugh Beg with ladies of his harem and retainers, Freer | Sackler