"The Thief Falls Through the Skylight in the Bedroom", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna
Unknown Artist
second quarter 16th century
Medium
Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions
Overall: H. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm) W. 8 7/8 in. (22.6 cm) Average text size: H. 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm) W. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Alice Heeramaneck, 1981
Accession Number
1981.373.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 16th-century Persian manuscript with this captivating folio from *Kalila wa Dimna titled *"The Thief Falls Through theight in the Bedroom." Created in the second quarter of the 16 century—likely during the Safavid dynasty—this page is part of a renowned codex in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Islamic collection. *Kalila wa Dimna a Persian adaptation of ancient Indian fables like the *Panchatantra*, animal and human tales to impart moral wisdom, making it a staple of Islamic literary and artistic traditions across courts from Persia to India. Rendered in ink an...