Portable Qur’an Manuscript
Unknown Artist
17th century
Medium
Ink and gold on paper; leather binding
Dimensions
Max. H. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm) Max. W. 1 1/4in. (3.2 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Joseph W. Drexel, 1889
Accession Number
89.2.2156
Tags
About this artwork
This extraordinary miniature Qur'an manuscript from the 17th century represents Islamic calligraphic arts at their most technically demanding. Measuring barely 1 1/4 inches in both height and width, this portable Qur'an contains the complete sacred text written in minute script with ink and gold on paper, bound in leather—a tour de force of precision and devotion. Such tiny Qur'ans served both practical and talismanic functions: portable enough for travel or daily carry, yet complete in sacred c...
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Portable Qur’an Manuscript*, 17th-century marvel of Islamic calligraphic artistry now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Islamic Art Department Measuring just 1¼ inches (3.2 cm) in height and width, this complete sacred text is inscribed in minute ink and gold script on paper, bound in leather. Its diminutive size belies the extraordinary precision required—every letter a testament to the scribe's mastery of traditional Arabic scripts like nask or riqa'. Crafted during a golden age of manuscript production in the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires, such miniature Qur'ans em...