Muhammad Haravi

Muhammad Haravi ("Muhammad of Herat", active 1560-1590), also called Muhammadi, was a Safavid painter of the mid-16th century, officiating particularly at the court of Shah Tahmasp and his successors.^[1]

Young prince, painted and signed by Muhammad Haravi, mid-16th century.

From the mid-16th century, Muhammadi took the forefront of painting creation in Persia, together with other famous figures such as Mirza Ali and Shaykh Muhammad.^[2] These artists, led by Muhammadi, excelled in harmonizing Persian painting with Persian poetry.^[2] Their style would be later adopted and popularized by Riza Abbasi.^[2]

His productivity seems to have peaked in the service of Hamza Mirza. Towards the end of his career, he experimented with monotone tinted paintings, in green or yellow.^[3]

• 
  Painting of a seated princess, most likely Pari Khan Khanum, 1574-77.^[4]
• 
  Muhammadi. Portrait of Russian Ambassador. (G.B. Vasilchikov) Herat, 1580s
• 
  Lovers in a landscape
• 
  Monotone portrait of Ali-Qoli Khan Shamlu, 1584

Sources

• Soudavar, Abolala (2000). "The Age of Muhammadi". Muqarnas. 17. Leiden: Brill: 53–72. doi:10.2307/1523290. ISBN 9004116699. ISSN 2211-8993. JSTOR 1523290. OCLC 59515859.