Illuminated Frontispiece of a Manuscript of the Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
text: dated A.H. 892/ 1487 CE; illumination: ca. 1600
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Dimensions
H. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm) W. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1963
Accession Number
63.210.1
Art Historical Context
This exquisite illuminated frontispiece graces a manuscript of *Mantiq al-Tayr* (Language of Birds), the renowned 12th-century Sufiorical poem by Persian mystic Farid al-Din `Attar. The text was calligraphed in 1487 CE (A.H. 892) by masters Zain al-'Abidin al-Tabrizi and Sultan 'Ali al-Mashhadi, two of Timurid Iran's finest nasta'liq scribes, whose fluid, elegant script captures the poem's spiritual quest of birds seeking the divine Simurgh. Around 1600, during the Safavid era, lavish illumination was added, transforming the page into a radiant portal to Persian literary and mystical tradition...