Bird Perching on a Blossoming Branch

Depictions of birds perching on flowering branches are known in Persian painting at least since the 15th century, but it was only in the 17th that the Flowers and Birds theme became a distinct genre that would remain exceptionally popular and common in the centuries that followed. Any muraqqa would invariably include several miniatures with such subject matter, usually in pairs on a double-page spread in keeping with the rules that evolved for albums of this type.
In this Hermitage miniature of a bird sitting on a small tree in blossom, a detailed “naturalistic” presentation of all the details is combined with the pursuit of purely decorative effects. The flowers are shown from various angles, but they are arranged almost symmetrically on the sheet. The balanced structure of the composition is emphasized by the placement of the bird in the centre, the two butterflies in the upper corners, and the blooming violets either side of the trunk in the lower part of the miniature.