ArtDayMe : Raha Gallery Middle East Collection, founded and directed by engineer Mohammadreza Ghaemmaghami, has for over two decades been actively engaged in promoting regional art and preserving diverse modernist and contemporary masterpieces by Iranian and Arab artists.

Among its treasures is the beautiful and epic painting Haunting Ground by the late master Mohammad Ali Zaviyeh, created in 1986 (1365 SH) with gouache and watercolor on cardboard, measuring 55 × 35 cm—only four years before the artist’s passing.

This work was presented and sold in the Seventh Tehran Auction (July 2017) and remains, to date, the only known piece by Zaviyeh ever offered at auction.

Born in Tehran in 1912 (1291 SH), MohammadAli Zaviyeh (1912 – 1990) entered the Kamal ol-Molok School of Fine Arts at the age of seventeen to study miniature and illumination.

Only two years later, he graduated with honors.

He developed a distinctive personal technique in illumination, preparing his own natural pigments by hand.

At thirty-six, he traveled to Europe to exhibit his works and, during that trip, presented one of his miniatures to King George VI of England, who highly praised his art.

His reputation in Europe grew so widely that he was invited three times by the British government to hold solo exhibitions.

In 1958 (1337 SH), he was awarded a gold medal for miniature painting at the Brussels International Exhibition, together with the Grand Prix diploma and a medal of art from the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Art.

Zaviyeh’s works rank among the finest examples of Persian miniature and illumination, often blending several artistic disciplines into a single composition—a synthesis that gives his art exceptional value.

His illuminations of several Qur’an manuscripts are among his most important achievements, and his works are held today in the Royal Trust Museum (London) and the National Museum of Iranian Art.

The exquisite painting Haunting Ground, preserved in the Raha Gallery Collection, depicts one of the most romantic episodes of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh: “Bahram Gur and Azadeh.”

Drawing upon the classical tradition of Persian miniature while introducing a personal and contemporary approach to composition and color, Zaviyeh portrays a vivid hunting scene: Bahram, the Sasanian king, mounted on horseback, pursues gazelles while Azadeh—his beloved concubine and harpist—rides beside him.

Remaining loyal to the principles of classical miniature, Zaviyeh animates the story through lively color harmonies, rhythmic brushwork, and graceful movement.

The narrative follows the Shahnameh episode in which Bahram and Azadeh go hunting; disturbed by the king’s pride and cruelty toward the animals, Azadeh protests, provoking Bahram’s anger—and her tragic death.

In this work, Zaviyeh captures the moment before tragedy—a world of beauty still in motion, before pride and power reveal their darker face.

The composition is horizontal and dynamic.

The horses gallop from right to left, guiding the viewer’s gaze through the unfolding story.

Gentle mountains in the background and the curving path of the horses create a visual rhythm reminiscent of music—harmonizing with the presence of Azadeh’s harp in the scene.

A balanced near-symmetry emphasizes the central figure of Bahram, astride a dark chestnut horse, anchoring the composition’s structure.

Zaviyeh’s Iranian palette glows with brilliance: turquoise, lapis, jade green, orange, and crimson are perfectly balanced throughout the work.

The use of complementary colors (blue–orange, green–red) produces a vibrant, dynamic contrast.

Faces and garments are rendered with delicate luminosity and without naturalistic shading, in keeping with miniature tradition, where light is spiritual rather than physical.

The luminous mountain landscape and pale sky add to the visual harmony and serenity of the background.

The figures, elongated and graceful, follow the elegant linear design characteristic of Persian miniature rather than Western perspective.

Bahram, dressed in red and green with a feathered helmet, embodies royal power and grandeur.

Azadeh, in lighter attire, harp in hand, represents gentleness and art—the feminine counterpoint to masculine might.

Their idealized faces, soft and symmetrical, convey inner emotion through calm yet expressive gazes.

Zaviyeh employs conceptual and decorative perspective: depth is achieved not through optical realism but through the overlapping of symbolic planes.

The horses move in successive layers from foreground to middle ground, while the mountains and sky rise symbolically above—guiding the viewer’s eye across the surface and imbuing the painting with a dreamlike, poetic aura.

The illuminated frame, rich with floral arabesques and corner medallions, directly recalls illustrated Shahnameh manuscripts.

Beyond its ornamental beauty, this illumination imparts a sacred, ceremonial quality, elevating the piece beyond mere narrative illustration.

Zaviyeh stands among the last generation of traditional Persian miniaturists—an artist who remained true to classical principles while infusing them with a modern sensibility.

His use of gouache and watercolor on cardboard produces colors that are simultaneously vivid, transparent, and delicate.

Meticulous layering and refined brushwork—especially in the fabrics and the horses’ coats—reveal his technical mastery.

On a symbolic level, the painting transcends its hunting theme: it becomes an allegory of the tension between power and tenderness, reason and emotion, authority and art.

Bahram embodies will and dominance; Azadeh, conscience and the soul’s refinement.

According to Ferdowsi’s tale, ignoring the voice of conscience leads to tragedy—and Zaviyeh’s depiction of the instant before that fall evokes beauty on the brink of loss.

This painting thus epitomizes the living continuity of the Persian miniature tradition: a lyrical, visual re-creation of Iran’s heroic and poetic past, balancing historical narrative with deeply felt inner emotion.

Tehran Auction Catalogue (7th Edition) also praised this work, noting:

“In this piece, Zaviyeh has chosen one of the most captivating tales of the Shahnameh—the story of Bahram Gur and Azadeh.

For centuries, this subject has inspired countless depictions in illuminated manuscripts, albums, and even metal and ceramic vessels.

In the painting, Bahram V, known as ‘Bahram Gur,’ the celebrated Sasanian king, is shown hunting gazelles with his Roman concubine Azadeh, a harp player.

The magnificent landscape unfolds majestically behind them.

Bahram, wearing Sasanian robes and helmet, draws his bow, while Azadeh plays her harp.

The harmony of colors and fluidity of line, with fine outlines and skillful coloring of attendants and animals, together create a dazzling and distinctive interpretation of this literary masterpiece.

The upper corners are adorned with two gilded medallions.

Though painted in the final years of Zaviyeh’s life, the work still displays his command of color, form, and imaginative composition.

Mohammad Ali Zaviyeh remains one of the outstanding figures of Iranian miniature and illumination in the past century—a leading artist of the Tehran School and student of Master Hadi Khan Tajvidi.

His compositions and palette evoke the lost grandeur of Safavid miniature, while his faces are modern and realistic.

Like his teacher, Zaviyeh integrated perspective into miniature painting—yet one harmonized with the Persian pictorial spirit.

His unique specialty was the portrayal of figures from Persian lyrical literature, though he was equally accomplished in portraiture.”

This masterwork belongs to the Raha Gallery Middle East Collection.