Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads
mid-1500s
Medium
Ink, gum tempera, and gold on paper
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.173,"width":0.402}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1944.492
Tags
About this artwork
A dragon lunges toward a pearl in the form of a seal inscribed with a verse from the Koran: “And I commit my case unto God” (40:44). In his front claw, the dragon grasps two flowering branches that magically produce a variety of blooms, including a lion that bites the dragon’s neck and a phoenix, who competes for the pearl. Sahkulu was trained by Persian artists, as were many artists of Mughal India during the 1500s. He joined the Ottoman imperial painting atelier in Istanbul in 1526 and became ...