Old man riding a zebu

Object Details

• Label

  This small, spontaneously conceived composition confirms the growing interest of early seventeenth-century Persian artists in the art of drawing. With quick, staccatolike strokes that vary in intensity, the artist has captured the bulky contours of the zebu and its stooped, elderly rider. The modulated lines lend the figures a sense of weight and volume, infusing them with remarkable sensitivity and naturalism.

• Provenance

  To 1953

  Mme. Maria Sarre

  From 1953

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Mme. Maria Sarre in 1953

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Riza-i Abbasi Album (May 10, 1985 to September 3, 1985)

  The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran (October 14, 1978 to May 30, 1979)

  Collection of Friedrich and Maria Sarre (1932)

  Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Mohammedanischer Kunst in München (May to October 1910)

  Die Ausstellung Islamischer Buchkunst im Berliner "Art of the Islamic Book" (February to April, 1910)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mme. Maria Sarre (1875-1971)

• Origin

  Isfahan, Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

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

• Name

  Sarre, Maria

• Place

  Isfahan

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Art, Men, Arts of the Islamic World

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Drawings