Demon in chains
Medium
opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
27 × 35.2 cm · image: 25.7 × 34.4 cm
Classification
Manuscript
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1982.63
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This page once belonged to a miscellany from the library of the early Ottonian sultans. It depicts two people in nomadic garb leading a demon, or Persian div, in chains between them. The female figure holding the chain to her face is painted to look nearly as ferocious as the captured div. The concept of divs as evil supernatural creatures of mysterious origin dates to pre-Islamic Persia, but they are also described in the text of the Qur'an. Divs in Persian literature and folktales are sometime...