Khwaja `Ali

( fl Herat, 1420-45). Persian illustrator. Khwaja `Ali of Tabriz is named as illuminator and illustrator in the colophon to a fine copy (Istanbul, Tokapi Pal. Lib., H. 781) of Nizami's Khamsa ('Five poems'), completed in 1445-6 for Ismat al-Dunya, the wife of the Timurid prince Muhammad Juki. The artist is probably to be identified with the 'portraitist' of that name who, according to DUST MUHAMMAD, was brought by Muhammad Juki's half-brother Baysunghur to Herat from Tabriz in 1420. Khwaja `Ali's paintings in the Khamsa are distinguished by round-headed snub-nosed figures, refined and meticulous architecture and interiors, fresh and verdant foliage, and a palette of primary colours with much green and purple. Many of his compositions repeat those used in earlier manuscripts. His style can be identified in several other manuscripts produced at Herat: a copy (1431; Istanbul, Mus. Turk. & Islam. A., MS. 1954) of Nizami `Arudi's Chahar maqala ('Four discourses') made for Baysunghur, a copy (St Petersburg, Hermitage, MS. VR-1000) of the Khamsa completed for the Timurid ruler Shahrukh in the same year, and a copy (c. 1440; London, Royal Asiat. Soc., MS. Morley 239) of Firdawsi's Shahnama ('Book of kings') made for Muhammad Juki. Khwaja `Ali is one of the very few Persian book painters from the mid-15th century whose work can be identified.

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