Picnics and Pastimes

What makes for a delightful picnic? Food and drink? Poetry? Music? A large, treasured tile arch from the collections offers a window into the pleasures, pastimes, and artistic heritage of Iran during the Safavid dynasty (1501-1736). 

Currently gracing the Osler Gate on Level 1, the colourful tiled archway - made over 350 years ago in Isfahan, Iran - depicts picnic-goers out for an afternoon of leisure and luxury. Individual tiles reveal immaculately dressed figures relaxing, enjoying delicious food and drink, and being entertained with music, poetry, and feats of archery. Lively and cheerful, the scenes on the arch offer a wonderful glimpse into the cultural vibrancy of Iran when it was ruled by the Safavids, a Shi'a Muslim dynasty, who were great patrons of the arts and architecture, and who fostered international trade and diplomacy from Isfahan, their newly built capital city. 

Picnics and Pastimes is free with General Admission.