Folio from a Khusraw u Shirin by Nizami; verso: Shirin visits the sculptor Farhad at work; recto: text

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Ali ibn Hasan al-Sultani

• Description

  Detached folio from the Khusraw u Shirin by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; recto: text, 4 columns, 23 lines; verso: illustration: Shirin visits the sculptor Farhad at work; one of a group of 7 detached folios (F1931-37) from the manuscript (F1931.29) and the book binding (F 1931.30); accessioned separately.

  Binding: The painting and the text are set in gold, green and blue rulings on gold-sprinkled paper.

• Label

  One of the most brilliant Timurid patrons of the arts of the book was Baysunghur Mirza (died 1434), Ibrahim Sultan's brother. A superb calligrapher and poet himself, Baysunghur Mirza established a celebrated library and painting atelier in Herat and commissioned his artists to produce numerous illustrated manuscripts. Their efforts dramatically changed the course of Timurid painting. By refining and codifying the earlier Jalayrid style, they developed a distinct pictorial language that depended on carefully balanced compositions, fine draftsmanship, and a rich, vibrant palette.

  Shirin Visits Farhad, from one of the earliest extant illustrated copies of Nizami's celebrated love poem, displays many of these formal characteristics. Set within a carefully executed, stylized landscape, the idealized figures appear to be surrounded by a profound stillness that accentuates their formality and aloofness. Only the towering rocks, as if shaped by molten lava, convey the emotional intensity of the moment when the sculptor Farhad catches sight of his beloved Shirin, whose likeness he has chiseled into the rocks as a token of his affection. The faces were rubbed out at a later date by someone objecting to figural representation.

• Provenance

  To 1931

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York to 1931 [1]

  From 1931

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York in 1931 [2]

  Notes:

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

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  In the Realm of Princes: The Arts of the Book in Fifteenth Century Iran and Central Asia (March 19 to August 7, 2005)

  From the Hand of Mani (January 18, 1985 to July 5, 1985)

  Art of the Near East (August 21, 1977 to December 14, 1979)

  Near Eastern Art (June 15, 1973 to May 7, 1975)

  2500 Years of Persian Art—Paintings, Pottery (February 10, 1972 to June 15, 1973)

  Near Eastern Art—Paintings, Pottery (August 18, 1967 to February 10, 1972)

  Near Eastern Art (June 5, 1964 to August 18, 1967)

  Special Exhibition (February 9, 1954 to April 20, 1954)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Arts, 1947 (October 6, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Manuscripts (May 1, 1945 to September 25, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Persian Manuscripts (May 5, 1933 to September 22, 1947)

• 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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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s, 1300s

• Name

  Kevorkian, Hagop

• Topic

  Mountains, Landscapes, Art, Jalayirid dynasty (1340 - 1432), Arts of the Islamic World, Farhad, Shirin

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts