Persian art

Bernard Berenson (1865-1959), the well-known art historian and author of classic texts on Renaissance art including Paintings of the Florentine Renaissance, also had an early interest in Asian and Islamic art.

This English translation of Jane Dieulafoy’s account of her travels to Susa in Persia (modern-day Iran) describes in detail the many villages she saw and the artifacts she and her husband, Marcel Dieulafoy, collected. One of the famous artifacts sent to France from Susa is the Frise des Lions, which is currently at the Museé du Louvre. The French government awarded Dieulafoy the Legion of Honor for her explorations in the Susa region and her subsequent artifact contributions.