While the high quality of some 16th century Shiraz manuscripts has occasionally been mentioned in the scholarly literature, they have more often been simply passed over as provincial or commercial. However, the output of this prolific center can provide hitherto unexplored clues to Safavid life and arts of the book during the 16th century. In her lecture, Lâle Uluç examines a group of 16th century deluxe Shiraz manuscripts which contain images of Shiraz buildings and urban venues, providing the viewer with a window into the daily street life of the time. She will demonstrate that some of the architectural representations depict actual structures. The degree of specificity in the depiction of pavilions of this period can in turn be utilized to explore aspects of 16th century Safavid architecture for which little archaeological evidence survives.

Zur Person:
Lâle Uluçs unterrichtet Islamische Kunstgeschichte an der Bogazıcı University in Istanbul. Sie hat Kunstgeschichte, Geschichte und Musikgeschichte studiert und promovierte 2000 an der New York University zu einem Thema der Islamischen Kunstgeschichte. Ihr Forschungsinteresse gilt der Neuzeit, insbesondere der Buchmalerei in Iran, die sie im Buch  Turkman Governors, Shiraz Artisans and Ottoman Collectors, Sixteenth century Shiraz manuscripts (Istanbul 2006) und in Beiträgen zu Ausstellungskatalogen behandelt hat. Eine vorausgehende Arbeit hat Beziehungen osmanischer Architektur des 19.‑20. Jahrhunderts zur Pariser Beaux Arts-Schule untersucht.