Folio from a Haft Awrang (Seven thrones) by Jami (d.1492); verso: Yusuf tends his flocks; verso: text

Object Details

• Author

  Jami (died 1492)

• Label

  This painting, immediately preceding Zulaykha's declaration of love for Yusuf and her attempts to seduce him, is one of the most sensitive and intimate illustrations in Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's manuscript. According to Jami, after Yusuf is rescued from the well, he is taken to Egypt and sold in the slave market. He enters the service of the governor of Egypt, Zulaykha's husband and works as a shepherd, tending Zulaykha's herds. In this illustration he is represented as a herdsman-an extremely elegant one, and his flaming nimbus suggests his future role as a prophet. Zulaykha, seated in a sumptuous tent, is shown as his devoted guardian. In addition, the mother and child under the tree and the proud, blue dappled mare and its skewbald foal underline the concept of nurturing and selfless devotion-one of the central requirements in the mystic's quest for divine union.

• Provenance

  To 1946

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York. [1]

  From 1946

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York. [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. See also, Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Seven Thrones of Jami: A Princely Manuscript from Iran (June 28, 1997 to March 29, 1998)

  Exhibition of Persian Art (April to May 1940)

  Untitled Exhibition, Institute of Fine Arts, Detroit, 1930 (1930)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1500s, 1610s, 1600s, 1590s, 1540s, 1650s, 1530s, 1640s, 1520s, 1630s, 1510s, 1620s, 1580s, 1730s, 1690s, 1570s, 1680s, 1560s, 1670s, 1550s, 1660s

• Name

  Kevorkian, Hagop

• Topic

  Art, Zulaykha, S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Shepherd, Tents, Yusuf, Haft awrang, Arts of the Islamic World, Illumination, Goat, Poetry, Children, Woman

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts