Persian Couplets (recto), Calligraphy, Persian Verses; Single Page Manuscript
Unknown Artist
late 1500s–early 1600s
Medium
ink, gold, and opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions
31.6 × 20.4 cm · text area: 21 × 12.4 cm
Classification
Manuscript
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1944.494.a
About this artwork
Under Shah Abbas, the tradition in which painting was employed to illustrate a literary work was all but abandoned. In its place came a new concern with single-page illustrations, such as this one, which have no specific content or meaning. They often illustrate albums of collections of verses about love and beauty, in which these themes often appear to serve as allegories of things divine.