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Left Side of a Double-page Illumination Introducing Surat al-fatihah
(Manuscripts and Rare Books, Islamic World , Islamic Manuscripts)
This folio from Walters manuscript W.563 is the left side of a double-page illumination introducing Surat al-fatihah (ch. 1). It contains commentary on the manuscript in Arabic and Persian.
This large-format, illuminated Timurid copy of the Qur’an is believed to have been produced in Northern India in the ninth century AH / fifteenth CE. The manuscript opens with a series of illuminated frontispieces. The main text is written in a large, vocalized polychrome muḥaqqaq script. Marginal explanations of the readings of particular words and phrases are in thuluth and naskh scripts, and there is interlinear Persian translation in red naskh script. The fore-edge flap of the gold-tooled, brown leather binding is inscribed with verses 77 through 80 from Chapter 56 (Sūrat al-wāqiʿah). The seal of Sultan Bayezid II (886–917 AH / 1481-1512 CE) appears on fol. 8a. There is an erased bequest (waqf) statement and stamp of Sultan ʿUthmān Khān (432-6 AH / 1027-31 CE) on fol. 3a.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Sultan 'Uthman Khan [1]; Sultan Bayezid II [2]; Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] Erased bequest (waqf) statement and stamp on fol. 3a
[2] Seal on fol. 8a
Exhibitions
| 2007 | Speaking the Word of God: Illuminated Korans from the Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1997 | The Divine Word and Sacred Sites of Islam. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1988 | Masterpieces of Ornament. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1984-1985 | Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
India (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 15 3/4 x W: 12 3/16 in. (40 x 31 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.563.9A
