Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-thabita (Book of the Images of the Fixed Stars) of al-Sufi
late 15th century
Medium
Ink and gold on paper; leather binding
Dimensions
H. 10 3/16 in. (25.8 cm) W. 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1913
Accession Number
13.160.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the cosmos with this stunning late 15th-century of *Kitab suwar al-kawakib-thabita* (Book of the Images of the Fixed Stars) by the renowned 10th-century Persian astronomerAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi. Crafted as a codex in the Islamic tradition, it measures a portable 10 3/16 x 7 1/8 inches, bound in leather with pages of ink and shimmering gold on paper. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Art Department (Rogers Fund, 1913), this work exemplifies the fusion of science and artistry during the Islamic Golden Age. Al-Sufi's seminal text catalogs the 48 constellations from Ptolemy's an...