Safavid Persian Miniature School

Timeline

1. 1561–1565Tabriz · TabrizThough the capital had moved to Qazvin, Tabriz retained memories of early Safavid miniature workshops and painter lineages; Timurid-era fine lines, group compositions, and delicate ornamental patterns were transmitted through illustrated manuscripts such as the Shahnameh, influencing the iconographic conventions of the Qazvin court workshop.
2. 1566–1570Safavid palace quarter of Qazvin · QazvinIn the late years of Tahmasp I, the Qazvin court workshop continued producing luxurious manuscript illustrations such as the Shahnameh and Khusraw and Shirin, with clear division of labor among painters, increasingly restrained coloring, and emphasis on juxtaposing landscape and figure narrative, reflecting the Shia court's visual authority over epic and religious texts.
3. 1571–1576Qazvin and Herat · PersiaIn his late years Tahmasp curtailed luxurious manuscript production, and some court painters dispersed with their works to India and Turkey; the Qazvin workshop style shifted from extreme intricacy toward more open compositions, planting the human and stylistic seeds for Abbas I's later summoning of painters and revival of miniature in Isfahan.