Les dragons du Livre des étoiles fixes d’Abd al-Rahmân al-Sûfï

The dragons in the Book of Fixed Stars by Abd al-Rahmân al-Sûfî. The French National Library is in possession of a very beautiful astronomical manuscript, once the property of the Timourid prince Ulugh Beg, the grandson of Tîmûr. The manuscript dates from about 1430 to 1440 and comes from Central Asia. It presents the constellations in the form of double miniatures, painted in pale hues. Some of these miniatures are particularly original and differ considerably from the earlier and more classical copies of Abd al-Rahmân al-Sûfî’s Book of Fixed Stars. The animals represented in the constellations of the Dragon, of Ophiuchus Serpentarius, of the Hydra or of the Whale are more akin to dragons than to traditional snakes. The stylistic theme of the dragon seems to be have been specially appreciated as a decorative motif in the Timourid court. It is frequently found on various art objects coming from Central Asia and from Iran, some of these objects bearing the name of Prince Ulugh Beg. It is an ancient totemic symbol for Chinese and Uralo-Altaic peoples, but it also has an esoteric and astrological significance which the Prince Ulugh-Beg, as versed as he was in astronomy and astrology, was clearly aware of. It is the dragon of the ecliptic, the position of its « lunar nodes » being the determining astrological factor in the individual's destiny.Caiozzo Anna. Les dragons du Livre des étoiles fixes d’Abd al-Rahmân al-Sûfï. In: Histoire de l'art, N°25-26, 1994. Varia. pp. 3-13