Detail of “Shaykh Safi Interprets Verses by Distinguished Poets”

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Tiled panels. Shaykh Safi’s headquarters in the northwestern Iranian town of Ardabil were expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries into a massive shrine complex by his descendants of the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722). While the Safvat al-Safa' mentions many of the shrine’s buildings and rooms, the pictures in the Aga Khan Museum manuscript convey only a vague sense of these spaces. The tiles panels shown above, for example, evoke the elaborate tilework at the complex in a limited way, and may just be the product of the painter’s imagination. The text does, however, indicate that assemblies of the Shaykh’s disciples took place in a few different locations of the complex, including the khalvat-sara, also known as the chilleh-khaneh.

Sheikh Safi al-din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble in Ardabil (Iran (Islamic Republic of))
Author: Iran Images/Mohammad Tajik
Copyright: © UNESCO