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.
Related Artworks
View MoreInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th-19th centuryPersianWatercolor, black chalk and blue colored pencil on off-white wove paper; pricked (recto); Watercolor, silver and gold over graphite on off-white modern laid paper (verso)
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianGraphite on beige wove paper; pricked and verso rubbed with red chalk (recto); Black counterproof and traces of rubbed red chalk on blue wove paper (verso)
19th centuryPersianBlack counterproof with red and blue inks on off-white modern laid paper
19th centuryPersianBlue-gray ink on off-white laid paper, pricked and verso pounced with red chalk (recto); Top: blue-green counterproof on off-white wove paper (verso); Middle: black coutnerproof on off-white wove paper (verso); Bottom: red-brown ink and graphite on off-white wove paper (verso)
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianLeft: brown ink over graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and verso pounced or rubbed with red chalk; Right: brown ink over graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and verso pounced or rubbed with red chalk (recto)
19th centuryPersianRed-brown ink over graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and rubbed with red chalk
19th centuryPersian