Text page from a Khamsa (“Quintet”) by Nizami
Artist/CulturePersian,
Timurid Period
Date1450-1599
Mediumopaque watercolor on paper
Dimensionssheet: 28 x
ClassificationsManuscripts
Credit LineBequest of Alexander H. Bullock
Object number1962.184.2
Label TextThese two non-adjoining, detached pages from an unidentified manuscript of the Khamsa (Quintet), five poems composed in 1165-1203, by Nizami. The illustration is from the mystical poem entitled Treasury of Mysteries which includes twenty discourses illustrated by moral fables such as this one.
Sanjar a famous Seljuk ruler, is upbraided by an old woman who complains that she is being robbed and beaten by one of his soldiers. She tells him there is not point in striving for foreign conquest when he cannot keep his own kingdom in order. The finger-to-mouth gesture of the king is a Persian artistic convention indicating surprise.ProvenanceAlexander H. Bullock, Worcester MAOn View
Not on view
Persian
1600s, Safavid Dyasty (active 1501–1736)
Tabrīz, East Azerbaijan, Iran
1500–1525
