Collection: Habiballah of Sava

One of the more conservative artists active during the reign of Shah ʿAbbās I (995-1039/1587-1628). Habiballah of Sava signed his art and drawings as Ḥabib, Ḥabib-Allāh, or Mašhadi Ḥabib-Allāh. All we know about him, besides his paintings, is the brief note by his contemporary Qāżi Aḥmad, who, writing in 1005/1596, referred to him as a masterful artist distinguished among his peers (tr., p. 191). “Maulānā Habibulla of Sava lived in Qom. For the skill of his hands he was one at whom men point their fingers and with regard to art he became a ravisher of the souls of his contemporaries. Every day he makes further progress.” In a later recession in 1015/1606 Qāżi Aḥmad added, “Navvāb Ḥosayn-khan Šāmlū, governor of Qom, had attached him to his person when he went to Herat, but the felicitous Prince took him away from the khan, and now he is in the capital, Isfahan, employed by the court department (sarkār-i humāyūn) as a painter"