Walters Ms. W.686, Single leaf of an old man kneeling

W.686

Single leaf of an old man kneeling

This Safavid drawing of an old bearded man is inscribed with the name of the famous Persian artist Riz̤ā–yi ʿAbbāsī (d. 1044 AH / 1634 CE). The name of the artist, written in black nastaʿlīq script, appears in the lower right corner of the page. It was produced in the middle of the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE in Iran. Such drawings are often framed by poetic verses. This example is surrounded by panels of verses from a poem by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (d. 898 AH / 1492 CE). It has been suggested that the man depicted is meant to represent the poet Jāmī himself.

Mid 11th century AH / 17th CE

Iran

As-written name: Riz̤ā–yi ʿAbbāsī

Name, in vernacular: رضاى عباسى

Note: Attribution is spurious (see bibliography, Canby)

Leaf

Literary -- Poetry

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Paper

Mounted on pasteboard; back has verses in nastaʿlīq script in four columns

Foliation: Not applicable

17.5 cm wide by 28.5 cm high

1. Image: 5.0 cm wide by 8.7 cm high

1. Title: Old man kneeling
2. Scribe: Riz̤ā–yi ʿAbbāsī
3. Text note: Name of artist written in black nastaʿlīq script in lower right corner
4. Hand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script
5. Decoration note: Border of gold-sprinkled brown paper

fol. W.686a:

1. 
2. Title: Old man kneeling
3. Form: Drawing
4. Label: This Safavid drawing of an old bearded man is inscribed with the name of the famous Persian artist Riz̤ā–yi ʿAbbāsī (d. 1044 AH / 1634 CE). The name of the artist, written in black nastaʿlīq script, appears in the lower right corner of the page. It was produced in the middle of the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE in Iran. Such drawings are often framed by poetic verses. This example is surrounded by panels of verses from a poem by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (d. 898 AH / 1492 CE). It has been suggested that the man depicted is meant to represent the poet Jāmī himself.

fol. W.686b:

1. 
2. Title: Old man kneeling (back)
3. Form: Back

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Canby, Sheila R. The Rebellious Reformer: The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan. (London: Azimuth, 1996), 205.

Stchoukine, I. Les peintures des manuscrits de Shah 'Abbas Ier à la fin des Safavis. (Paris: Beyrouth, 1964), 129.

Noel, William, and Daniel Weiss, eds. The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. (Baltimore: the Walters Art Museum, 2002), 205.

Grube, Ernst J., and Maria Alberta Fabris. Muslim Miniature Paintings from the XIII to XIX Century from Collections in the United States and Canada: Catalogue of the Exhibition. (Venezia: N. Pozza, 1962), 126.

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.