Page of Calligraphy from the Bellini Album
ca. 1600
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions
H. 13 1/16 in. (33.1 cm) W. 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Louis V. Bell Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.266.7.9r
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Page of Calligraphy from the Bellini Album*, by the master calligrapher Sultan Nur around 1600, exemplifies the pinnacle of Islamic artistic tradition. Crafted with ink, opaque watercolor, and on paper, the work measures 13 1/16 by 8 3/8 inches and belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of's Islamic Art collection (Louis V. Bell Fund 1967). In culture, calligraphy transcended mere writing to become a sacred art form often conveying Qur'anic verses or poetry with rhythmic elegance, as the swirling scripts here likely do. Sultan Muhammad Nur, active during the Safavid era in Persia—...