Acknowledgements
I would like to express my profound gratitude to Mondriaan Fonds for financially sponsoring my research which produced the present publication. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Professor Gabrielle van den Berg, who throughout this research supported me through and through with her comments and provided valuable input. I thank Leiden University, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, for offering me access to their library and academic facilities during this research.
I am grateful to the Rijksmuseum for providing me access to their collection of Persian miniatures and archives, and in particular, for granting me the copyright permission for publishing the images in the present book. Finally, I greatly appreciate my husband Erik, my brother Amir, and my friend Bijan Minoofar, for their assistance and continuous support.