Folio from a Yusuf u Zulaykha by Jami (d. 1492); recto: Zulaykha's maids entertain Yusuf in the garden; verso: text

Object Details

• Author

  Jami (died 1492)

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Yusuf u Zulaykha by Jami; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; heading in white; recto: illustration and text, Zulaykha's maids entertained Yusuf in the garden; verso: text, Night arrived and maids presented their charms, two columns, eleven lines.

  Border: The recto in set in multi-colored rulings on cream-colored paper with landscape and animal motifs; the verso is set in multi-colored rulings on gold-sprinkled paper.

• Label

  While Majnun embodies extreme love, Yusuf, the biblical prophet Joseph, who also appears in the Qur'an, personifies purity of soul and physical beauty. In Jami's celebrated poem devoted to the romance, Yusuf repeatedly spurns the advances of the beautiful Zulaykha, Potiphar's wife. His unswerving spiritual devotion and moral strength are considered ideal qualities in both the lover and the mystic.

  The scene represents one of Zulaykha's many ruses to seduce Yusuf. After repeatedly failing to win Yusuf's heart, Zulaykha invites him to a garden along with one hundred women, hoping he will fall in love with one of the beauties. Then she would change places with the favored one and finally win the object of her desire. In this sixteenth-century painting, Yusuf is portrayed with a flaming halo--a sign of his sanctity. Clearly overwhelmed by his grace and beauty, two women in the foreground have already fainted, while the rest are in various states of excitement. As Zulaykha watches from behind the hilltop, Yusuf is preaching to the women about the wisdom of God--the one and true Beloved.

• Provenance

  To at least 1922

  Moussa, Tehran, Iran. [1]

  1922

  Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Objets d'art Anciens de la Perse, May 5-6, 1922, no. 113. [2]

  To 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France. [3]

  From 1942 to 1986

  Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France. [4]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France. [5]

  Notes:

  [1] The object was in the collection of Moussa (M.J.M) until 1922 when it was published in the auction catalogue, Objets d'art anciens de la Perse, May 5-6, 1922. See Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 404.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

  [5] See note 4.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam (May 16, 2010 to August 08, 2010)

  Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Painting (August 30, 2003 to February 22, 2004)

  The Art of Painting a Story: Narrative Images from Iran (December 22, 1991 to May 10, 1992)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Hotel Drouot

  Moussa

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Khurasan, Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

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• Name

  Mautin, Francois Albert, Hotel Drouot, Moussa, Vever, Henri

• Place

  Khurasan

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Art, Henri Vever collection, Yusuf, Zulaykha, Arts of the Islamic World, Gardens

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts