Single Leaf of a Couple Embracing
(Manuscripts and Rare Books, Islamic World , Islamic Manuscripts)
This single-leaf painting of a couple embracing, Walters manuscript leaf W.690, executed in Safavid Iran, is dated to 3 Sha`ban 1[0]98 AH/AD 1689. The painting is in the style of the artist Mu'in Musawwir (Mu'in the painter), who was active in Isfahan from 1044-1109 AH/AD 1635-1697. The illuminated landscape motifs are found in other paintings associated with this painter, who produced both single-leaf compositions and manuscript illustrations. The handwriting is also comparable to that found on Mu'in's accepted and signed works. The subject of couples embracing was a popular theme of single-leaf compositions in Isfahan of the 11th century AH/AD 17th, repeated by Mu'in's contemporaries and students.
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
1992 | Painting in Iran, Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1984-1985 | Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1966-1967 | Art of Persia. Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca. |
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
7/16/2015 | Treatment | examined for exhibition; media consolidation |
Geographies
Iran (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 14 x W: 9 7/16 in. (35.5 x 24 cm); Image H: 7 11/16 x W: 4 1/8 in. (19.5 x 10.5 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.690