cWith the first hints of the awakening of our plants, the desire to go out into the garden returns, and in these days we invite you to visit a splendid garden: it is the Garden of Paradise represented in the beautiful Carpet of tigers, exceptionally exhibited at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, until Monday 20 March. It is a splendid one carpet, woven in Quazvinone of the royal cities of central Persia, between 1560 and 1570 and probably made for Shah Tamhasp I, who reigned in Persia from 1524 to 1576.
Carpet of tigers © Poldi Pezzoli
The composition scheme of the carpet is classic with a central medallion on a blue background, decorated with flowers and birds; in the central part on a red background, a garden is represented in which trees, flowers, animals, real or fantastic, are distributed with symmetrical rigor and harmonyand two pairs of Hourì, angelic creatures with the appearance of young girls with beautiful eyes.
In fact, stepping on such a carpet must have given the sensation of walking in the garden of Paradisewhere time has no expiration and where the path that leads to the source of life and eternal youth is found.
An inscription, in silver brocadewhich runs along the inner frame of the border of the carpet, reveals its royal destination: “Blessed is the carpet that becomes shadow under the steps of the Shah … they spun its weft with the thread of the soul, they spun it for the Dario of the world… “.
A fantastic garden
Purchased by Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli in 1855, it is unanimously considered one of the masterpieces of the Poldi Pezzoli collection; for conservation reasons the carpet was withdrawn from the exhibition in 1982 and restored to be periodically presented to visitors. Now it is exhibited in the Golden Hall, in dialogue with the masterpieces of the Renaissance, as Poldi Pezzoli himself wished.
In the long tradition of friendship that binds Orticola di Lombardia to the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, we have visited the carpet to try to understand which plants were represented. Naturally, these are fictional representations, but they naturally had to have references in the plants that adorned the Shah’s gardens at the time.
The plants of the Tiger Carpet
Thanks to the text on the carpet, the geographical distribution and cultivation of the different species – as well as their artistic interpretation over the centuries – it is possible to imagine that different typical or symbolic plants of the Persian territory.
Red roses and lilies seem to be recognizable in the outer border; some flowers in the center of the composition show a design that seems to be a star and this suggests opium poppies (Papaver somniferum) since the classic 9-pointed ‘star’ seems to refer to the upper part of the capsule which will contain the seeds, typical of this species.
But not only roses, lilies and poppies: we are led to think that some of the larger flowers may represent peonies, also due to the name ‘roses of China’ with which they were known, due to their origin, and especially widespread in that part of Asia. In addition to the more showy blooms, however, there are a multitude of smaller corollas which could be referable to different genera or species of the large family of Asteraceaesuch as tansy and calendula.
In addition to the flowers, the entire composition shows, in the most central parts, four trees that bear fruit and flowers at the same time and that attract the interest of some parrots, what could they be? Most likely these are trees belonging to the family of Rosaceaedue to the characteristic five-petal flower: among these it is easy to imagine almond (Prunus amygdalus, syn. Prunus dulcis), native species from Iran and the surrounding countries, whose fruits – represented similarly to the leaves but of a lighter color – have attracted some parrots because they are already ripe, since the capsules are shown open.
To the outside of the composition four other trees are depicted which we imagine to be of great development, since felines climb it, but not cultivated for flowers or fruit – which in fact are not represented; in this case it could be an oak, Quercus brantiiwhose synonym, by which it was once known, is Quercus persica. It is in fact an oak tree originally from the area of ancient Persia, native to Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey and that it was very probably cultivated for its shade but also for its symbolic value, a value that all species of oak have had in every era and in every culture.
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