Description
Silver and gold paints were used against an indigo blue background to create a fantastic frame for the text of the Gulistan. Meaning “rose bush” in Persian, this text is a collection of anecdotes in both verse and prose. Here, a winged lion chases a winged deer from the upper margins to the lower, where it rends the mythical deer and sends a toothy fox running.
Provenance
William Kelly Simpson [1928–2017], Katonah, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?–2006); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2006–)
Illuminated folio (recto) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
calligraphy: c. 1475–1500; border: c. 1550
Accession Number
2006.147.a
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, gold, and silver on paper
Dimensions
Overall: 30 x 19 cm (11 13/16 x 7 1/2 in.); Text area: 16.3 x 9.8 cm (6 7/16 x 3 7/8 in.)
Classification
Manuscript
Credit Line
Gift of William Kelly Simpson in memory of his wife Marilyn M. Simpson and her grandparents Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr.
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Illuminated Folio from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
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Illuminated folio (verso) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
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Illuminated Folio (recto) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
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Illuminated folio from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
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