Songbirds and Dragons in Persian and Mughal Art - Lecture by Prof. Michael Barry

“Michael Barry returns to the Museum to share his encyclopaedic knowledge of two popular creatures in Persian and Mughal painted manuscripts: songbirds and dragons. Explore the style, meaning, and symbolism of these magnificent creatures through images from the Aga Khan Museum collection and other major international museums.

Professor Michael Barry is a lecturer in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, where he specializes in medieval and modern Muslim cultures of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. He served as a consultant for the development of the new Islamic art galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, and with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Amongst his many publications on Islamic art and Sufi symbolism are The Canticle of the Birds (2013) and Figurative Art in Medieval Islam (2005).”