Islamic Art
Illuminated folio from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
MetalworkManuscript
Details
- Author / creator
- Sultan 'Ali al-Mashadi (Iranian, 1430–1520)
- Object type
- Manuscript
- Date or period
- about 1475–1500; border: about 1550
- Dimensions summary
- Overall: 30 × 19 cm; Text area: 16.1 × 9.6 cm
- Maker or workshop
- Sultan 'Ali al-Mashadi
- Period / style
- Renaissance
- Place of origin
- Iran
- Acquisition method
- Donation
- Credit line
- Gift of Colonel James Thursby, 2006
About this object
In the border surrounding the Persian poetical text, deer and a lion coexist peacefully in a forest. This imagery may reference the rule of a righteous king.
The text is from the Gulistan, one of the most celebrated works of Persian literature, completed around 1258. Gulistan means “Rose Garden” in Persian; just as a rose garden is a collection of flowers, the contents are a collection of anecdotes. This page is from the section “On the Conduct of Kings.”
Materials and technique
Gum tempera, ink, gold, and silver on paper
