Single Leaf of an Old Man Kneeling

Description This Safavid drawing of an old bearded man, Walters manuscript leaf W.686, is inscribed with the name of the famous Persian artist Riza-yi 'Abbasi (died 1044 AH/AD 1634). The name of the artist, written in black Nasta'liq script, appears in the lower right corner of the page. It was produced in the middle of the 11th century AH/AD 17th in Iran. Such drawings are often framed by poetic verses. This example is surrounded by panels of verses from a poem by 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (died 898 AH/AD 1492). It has been suggested that the man depicted is meant to represent the poet Jami himself.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
10/22/1974	Treatment	re-housed
10/23/2015	Treatment	examined for exhibition; stabilized

Exhibitions

• Painting in Iran, Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1992.
• The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Academy Art Museum, Easton; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton; The Mitchell Gallery, Annapolis; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown. 2002.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters