Double-page Illuminated Incipit
The Bustan, consisting of stories and maxims, was composed by the Persian poet Musharrif al-Din ibn Muslih Sa'di Shirazi (d.1292). Bustan is a Persian word composed of bu (smell or perfume) and estan, the suffix denoting place, and means "garden" or "orchard." Following the Persian poetic tradition, Sa'di said each story was like a flower in a garden. The book opens with a frontispiece with the title, Kitab-i bustan, seen here.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
2012 | Paradise Imagined: Images of the Garden in the Islamic and Christian World. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Iran (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 10 1/16 x W: 6 11/16 in. (25.5 x 17.0 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.620.3A