The bird illustrations in a thirteenth century Arab natural history

Abstract

The thirteenth century Persian scholar Zakariyya al-Qazwini compiled a monumental encyclopaedia on natural history. The Munich manuscript, a copy of the encyclopaedia executed during the author's lifetime, is adorned with numerous coloured illustrations. Up to now a few of these have been analysed along stylistic lines, i.e.from a purely art historical point of view. Our aim instead is to understand the significance of the illustrations within the context of this particular manuscript. In this article we focus on the bird illustrations, taking a combined historical, ornithological and art historical approach. We first describe the general characteristics and technique of the miniatures, and then examine a selection in detail from an ornithologist's point of view. Finally, we explore possible sources and pictorial traditions that could have influenced the illustrator. We conclude that the illustrations are a pictorial counterpart to Qazwini's text, fitting the requirements of an encyclopaedia, which presents authoritative, up to date, scientific information in a well organised, concise and readily understandable form.