This lecture will begin at 18.30 BST.
Please register by emailing temenosacademy@myfastmail.com
A proud World-Ruler suddenly confronted and humbled by a Wise Widow - or a Wise Hermit - permits Justice to flourish and his own soul to blossom like the Tree of Life. This central motif in the 12th-century Persian poetry of Nizâmi and the 14th-century Tuscan poetry of Dante and abundantly illustrated by the greatest artists in both these poets' civilizations (from Bihzâd to Botticelli) - with an amazing dramatic variant also concluding Shakespeare's As You Like It - can be traced back to a common Hellenistic trope with further influences stemming from as far as Buddhist India. How and why are explored through lovely pictures of this spiritual theme shared by three of the greatest geniuses in world literature.
Speakers
Michael Barry
Michael Barry was born in New York City in 1948 but raised in France and partly in Afghanistan. He is currently Distinguished University Professor at the American University of Afghanistan (now in Qatar) and holds higher degrees in Islamic languages, medieval European literatures and social anthropology from the Universities of Princeton, Cambridge, McGill and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He taught for many years at Princeton and conceived the present layout of the galleries of Islamic Art in New York's Metropolitan Museum, further winning eighteen prizes for his teaching and writing from the United States, France, Iran and Afghanistan. An eminent historian of Islamic art, he was adviser to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture for many years. He was knighted by the French Government in 2021 for outstanding humanitarian service in the Afghan field where his work over five decades has ranged from anthropological research to coordinating famine relief and defending human rights.
A limited selection of tickets will be available for IIS staff and students for free, on a first come first serve basis. To book, please contact temenosacademy@myfastmail.com.
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Views expressed in this lecture are those of the presenting scholars, not necessarily of IIS, the Ismaili community or leadership. Promotion of this lecture is not an explicit endorsement of the ideas presented.
Cover image: Mahmud Muzahhib. Sultan Sanjar and an Old Woman (right part) Nezâmi, Makhzan al-asrâr 1538-46, Bukhara, BNF1. Public domain.
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