An Image of Majnun with Verses from the Poem Layla va Majnun
19th century
Description
The unmistakable image of Majnun—dreamy-eyed but skeletal—marks the vertical axis of this work. The figure is boxed in by 20 lines of Persian poetry. The rubric “Image of Majnun” is written in Persian above his head, and a small gazelle reposes below his feet. In his hands he holds an open copy of the Qur’an. A blue floral border frames the work.
Dimensions
Folio: 28.5 x 20 cm (11 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Provenance
Stuart Cary Welch, Jr. Collection, New Hampshire (by 1969-2011), sold; through [Sotheby’s, London, 5/31/2011, lot 57]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2011. Note: Prior to being returned to the Welch family in 2009, this object had been on loan to the Harvard Art Museums beginning on April 1, 1969 as TL17443.36, while in the Collection of the late Stuart Cary Welch Jr.
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