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Image for Five Poems (Quintet)
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Five Poems (Quintet)

Nizami Ganjavi (Azerbaijani, died 605 AH/AD 1209) (Author)
11th century AH/AD 17th century (Safavid)
ink and pigments on paper covered with lacquer
(Manuscripts and Rare Books, Islamic World , Islamic Manuscripts)

Walters manuscript W.612, this illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Nizami Ganjavi (died 605 AH/AD 1209) dates to the 11th century AH/AD 17th. The codex opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a). Each of the 5 poems begins with an illuminated headpiece (fols. 32b, 117b, 176b, 240b, 331b), and there are 36 illustrations. The lacquer binding is not original to the manuscript.

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.

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Geographies

Iran (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Folio H: 10 5/8 x W: 6 1/2 in. (27 x 16.5 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.

W.612

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Baltimore, MD
21201

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