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"Portrait of a Persian Lady", Folio from the Davis Album

dated 1149 AH/1736–37 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 450
This folio depicts a lady seated on a balcony before an expansive landscape. The artist has used European techniques of modeling and shading in rendering the face, neck, and hands. The landscape in the background incorporates the use of perspective, a technique adopted by Iranian court painters in the mid-seventeenth century. A small date in white ink in the sky appears to read A.H. 1149/A.D. 1736–7, which places this work in the period of the Afsharid rulers of Iran.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Portrait of a Persian Lady", Folio from the Davis Album
  • Date: dated 1149 AH/1736–37 CE
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran, Isfahan
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Page: H. 13 1/8 in. (33.3 cm)
    W. 8 1/4in. (21cm)
    Mat: H. 19 in. (48.3 cm)
    W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
  • Object Number: 30.95.174.32
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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