Youth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript
c.1600–1650
Medium
opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
27.7 × 16.4 cm · image: 15.3 × 8 cm
Classification
Manuscript
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1947.497
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This single painting of a youth holding a favored pomegranate reflects the style of the most gifted painter at the court of Shah ‘Abbas, Riza-yi ‘Abbasi, whose work inspired numerous adaptations and copies by other artists. In this painting, the youth is attired less extravagantly—with less gold thread than those in the two paintings nearby—presumably conveying a lower status. Gold thread was so expensive that rulers occasionally burned old fabrics for the monetary value of the gold.