Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād – Persian painter

He was born in 1450 and lived most of his life in Herat, a city in modern-day western Afghanistan and an important center of trade and the Timurid Empire's cultural and economic capital. He died in 1535 in Herat (Safavid Empire), Afghanistan.

Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād, also known as Kamal al-din Bihzad or Kamaleddin Behzad, was a Persian painter, proverbial for his skill, active in Herat during the reign of the Timurid Ḥosayn Bāyqarā (875-912/1470-1506).

Orphaned at an early age, he was raised in the city of Herāt by the painter Mīrak Naqqāsh, who enjoyed the patronage of the Timurid princes who ruled the city. Behzād studied under his guardian and in 1486 became head of the Herāt academy, a post he held until 1506.

He was very prominent in his role as a director of a workshop in the Herat Academy as well as his position in the Royal Library in the city of Herat.

Behzad's fame reached its zenith during this period. A fable states that during the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, in which the Ottoman Turks defeated the Persian army, Shah Ismail I hid Behzad in a cave as a treasure.

His art includes masterful use of value and individuality of character, with one of his most famous pieces being "The Seduction of Yusuf”' from Sa'di's Bustan of 1488.
Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād – Persian painter

Kamal-ud-din Bihzad - Construction of the fort of Kharnaq