Falnama

"Whether by consulting the position of planets, casting horoscopes or interpreting dreams, the art of divination has been a universal practice for centuries. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries in Iran and Turkey, one of the most splendid tools to gain insight into the unknown was a series of illustrated manuscripts known as the Falnama (Book of omens). Popular at court and on the streets of Isfahan and Istanbul, only four 'monumental' copies of these exceptional works remain. They are notable for their impressive scale and brilliantly painted images of prophets, heroes, villains…