Spanish photographer creates collection on Figueroa’s travel to Persia
TEHRAN.(Iranart) – Spanish photographer Manolo Espaliú has created a collection that contains photos from the route his fellow traveler and diplomat García de Silva y Figueroa took in the early 17th century to reach the court of Shah Abbas I in Persia as Philip III’s ambassador.
The photos have been published in the book “Viaje a Persia” (“Travel to Persia”), which has recently been introduced during a special meeting at the Madrid branch of Casa Asia.
Espaliú who attended the meeting said that he used Figueroa’s travelogue of Persia to photograph the historical sites visited by the diplomat.
Fernando Camacho Padilla, a history professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and several other Spanish academics were also in attendance at the meeting.
Figueroa arrived in Persia in October 1617 and stayed there until 1619. He then returned to his homeland with a collection of rare art objects from places he had visited.
He wrote his account of the journey in “Totius legationis suae et Indicarum rerum Persidisque commentarii”, the manuscript of which is preserved at the National Library in Madrid.