Persian Quatrains (Rubayi) and Calligraphic Exercises (recto)

Description

This page contains two quatrains—poems made up of four lines. The diagonally written text in the center of the page is a poem addressed to a ruler, expressing hope for his success and the downfall of his enemies. The second poem is split between the horizontal panels at the top and bottom of the page. This quatrain praises the beauty of the writer’s beloved, saying that “her moonlike face can steal away a hundred besotted hearts.” At the right are calligraphic exercises displaying letters of the alphabet and the virtuoso skill of the calligrapher Sultan Muhammad Khandan, who signed the page in the triangle at the lower left of the inner text block.

Provenance

Mrs. Mehmed A. [Louise Dean] Simsar [1900–1986], Washington, DC, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?-1983); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1983-)

Persian Quatrains (Rubayi) and Calligraphic Exercises (recto)

Sultan Muhammad Khandan

c. 1509–59

Accession Number

1983.1115.a

Medium

ink, gold, and opaque watercolor on paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 27.4 x 20 cm (10 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.); Text area: 18.7 x 10.9 cm (7 3/8 x 4 5/16 in.)

Classification

Manuscript

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Mehmed A. Simsar in memory of Dr. Mehmed A. Simsar