Color and Meaning in the Art of Achaemenid Persia (Cambridge University Press, 2023) by Alexander Nagel, chair, Art History and Museum Professions, won the Islamic Republic of Iran’s 32nd World Book Award in the category of Iranian studies. Professor Nagel traveled to the awards ceremony in Tehran to accept the prize from Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Nagel’s book is a culmination of his decades-long multidisciplinary investigation into the use of color on the surfaces of ancient architecture and rock reliefs, focusing on Persepolis in the late-sixth- to mid-fourth century B.C. In his studies of seemingly monochrome ruins, Nagel has, with the help of a microscope, discovered traces of the pigments used by artisans and artists in Achaemenid Persia to color the built landscapes of their world.
The annual World Book Award was established by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to honor the best international scholarly books advancing Islamic studies and Iranian studies across a range of fields: from art and literature to religion, philosophy, and the applied and pure sciences.