"The Anecdote of the Man Who Fell into the Water", Folio 44r from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
dated A.H. 892/1487 CE
Medium
Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Painting: H. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm) W. 5 1/8in. (13cm) Page: H. 13 in. (33 cm) W. 8 7/16 in. (21.4 cm) Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm) W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1963
Accession Number
63.210.44
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite folio, titled *"The Anecdote of the Man Fell into the Water"*Folio 44r), comes a lavish 15th-century manuscript of Farid al-Din `Attar's *Mantiq al-Tayr* (Language of Birds), a cornerstone of Persian Sufi literature. Dated 1487 CE (A.H. 892), the poem allegorically follows birds on a spiritual quest for enlightenment, weaving moral tales like this one—likely depicting men and donkeys in a humorous or cautionary mishap involving water. Created under the patronage of Timurid rulers in Herat, it reflects the era's golden age of Islamic book arts, blending poetry, calligraphy by Sul...