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Five Poems (Quintet)
(Manuscripts and Rare Books, Islamic World , Islamic Manuscripts)
Walters manuscript W.607 is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of 4 of the 5 poems that comprise the Khamsah (quintet) of Nizami Ganjavi (died 605 AH/AD 1209). It does not include Laylá va Majnun. The text was copied in black Nasta'liq script by Yadkar the Calligrapher (al-Katib) in 935 AH/AD 1529. An illuminated double-page frontispiece opens the codex (fols. 1b-2a), and each poem is introduced with an illuminated headpiece (fols. 33b, 119b, 180b, and 261b). The 27 illustrations appear to have been repainted in India during the 12th or early 13th century AH/AD 18th or early 19th. The manuscript is bound in late Zand lacquer boards with figural scenes depicting Bahram Gur hunting and Khusraw watching Shirin bathing. The upper board illustrating Bahram Gur is dated 12[0]5 AH/AD 1790-1791.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1997 | The Divine Word and Sacred Sites of Islam. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Iran (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Folio H: 11 13/16 x W: 7 1/16 in. (30 x 18 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
W.607
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