Illuminated page (verso), from a Panj Ganj (Five Treasures) of Abd al- Rahman Jami (Persian, 1414–1492) with two Persian masnavis: Yusuf va Zulaykha (Joseph and Zulaykha) and Khirad-nama-i Iskandari (Alexander’s Book of Wisdom)
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
page: 31.6 × 20.4 cm · text area: 17.8 × 9.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
Accession Number
2013.315.1.b
Tags
About this artwork
This section of text from Jami’s poem of Joseph and Zulaykha, written diagonally in the margins, describes the beauties of Zulaykha’s house, in which she intends to seduce Joseph. It includes the following verses: Jeweled lamps on the walls were hung / And odorous herbs were beneath them flung. / She gathered together all things most fair, / And unrolled the carpet of pleasure there. / But amid the charms of the sumptuous hall / She longed only for Joseph, far dearer than all. / A heavenly palac...