Ulugh Beg's Stars

Beneath a sky of indigo and powdered silver, Ulugh Beg stands among the astronomers of his famed Samarkand observatory, the greatest scientific institution of its age. A Timurid prince, mathematician, and patron of knowledge, he ruled not through conquest but through calculation, charting the heavens with a precision that surpassed anything known in Europe for centuries to come. Around him, scholars hold astrolabes and celestial globes, their telescopes tilted toward constellations that glitter across the mountains like divine script. In this painting, science feels like worship: a gathering of minds reading the sky as one might read revelation.

This miniature offers a glimpse into a civilization at its intellectual height, when Muslim astronomers measured the movements of stars with an accuracy unmatched until the modern age. Ulugh Beg’s Zij-i Sultani would become one of history’s most important star catalogues, guiding generations of mathematicians, navigators, and seekers. 

Original miniature portrait (Origin: Bukhara), framed in double-glass frames (front and back viewable) to preserve both pigment and light. Dimensions: 42 cm x 32 cm.