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"Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami
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"Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami

Nizami (Ilyas Abu Muhammad Nizam al-Din of Ganja)
(probably 1141–1217)

Calligrapher: Sultan Muhammad Nur (ca. 1472–ca. 1536)
Calligrapher: Mahmud Muzahhib
Artist: Painting by Shaikh Zada
Object Name: Folio from an illustrated manuscript
Date: A.H. 931/A.D. 1524–25
Geography: present-day Afghanistan, Herat
Culture: Islamic
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions: Painting: H. 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm) W. 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm) Page: H. 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm) W. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm) Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm) W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913
Accession Number: 13.228.7.5
Not on view
Description Object Information Related Objects Online Resources Video Audio
In Nizami’s tale of Khusrau and Shirin, the princess Shirin has an ardent admirer in the talented sculptor and stonemason, Farhad. When Shirin desires milk from a herd of goats that graze in a distant field, Farhad sets to work cutting a channel from the goats’ mountain pastureland to a pool at the foot of Shirin’s palace. In this painting, Shirin visits Farhad upon his completion of the pool. At the very top of the composition, a goat cavorts in its hillside home.
  • Provenance

    F. R. Martin, Sweden; Alexander Smith Cochran, Yonkers, NY (until 1913; gifted to MMA)

Some related objects from the collection

"Khusrau Seated on his Throne", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami
Nizami
(Ilyas Abu Muhammad Nizam al-Din of Ganja) (probably 1141–1217)
Date: A.H. 931/A.D. 1524–25
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Accession Number: 13.228.7.4
Not on view

"Alexander at a Banquet", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami
Nizami
(Ilyas Abu Muhammad Nizam al-Din of Ganja) (probably 1141–1217)
Date: A.H. 931/A.D. 1524–25
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Accession Number: 13.228.7.16
On view in Gallery 455

"Khusrau Catches Sight of Shirin Bathing", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami
Nizami
(Ilyas Abu Muhammad Nizam al-Din of Ganja) (probably 1141–1217)
Date: A.H. 931/A.D. 1524–25
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Accession Number: 13.228.7.3
Not on view

"Sultan Sanjar and the Old Woman", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami
Nizami
(Ilyas Abu Muhammad Nizam al-Din of Ganja) (probably 1141–1217)
Date: A.H. 931/A.D. 1524–25
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Accession Number: 13.228.7.2
Not on view

"Bahram Gur in the Yellow Palace on Sunday", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami
Nizami
(Ilyas Abu Muhammad Nizam al-Din of Ganja) (probably 1141–1217)
Date: A.H. 931/A.D. 1524–25
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Accession Number: 13.228.7.9
On view in Gallery 455

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