Art Focus Lecture: The Art of Persia

Event : Stanford University, America.


Wednesdays, February 8, 15, and 22

Persia represents one of the longest and most glorious histories in the world. Too often neglected by the West, Persia’s rich and complex culture was jealously admired by the ancient Greeks and later by the Byzantines. Its legendary arts and architectural sites range from Achaemenid Persepolis to Safavid Tabriz and Isfahan with its great monuments, rich textiles, intricate miniature paintings, ceramics, and perfumed gardens.

• Sassanian Persia and its Metals, Stone Seals, and Silk
• Safavid Miniature Paintings in the Age of Shah Abbas and Beyond
• Persian Treasures: Rugs and Gardens

Suggested texts:
Sheila Canby, The Golden Age of Persian Art. London: British Museum Press, 2002
Kaveh Farrokh, Shadows in the Desert. Oxford: Osprey, 2007

Patrick Hunt, Director of the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project, has taught at Stanford since 1993 and is also an associate at the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He is the author of twelve books including Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History,Myth and Art in Ekphrasis, Dante’s Inferno: Critical Insights, and Renaissance Visions: Myth and Art. He received a Ph.D. from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, University of London. For his academic contributions on ancient Persia, Hunt was awarded the Persian Lioness Gold Medal of Excellence in 2008 from the World Academy of Arts, Literature and Media (WAALM) in London.

Check event details at the University website.