Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


    • Leaf from a Qur'an, 1302–8; Ilkhanid
    Iraq (Baghdad)
    Ink, gold, and colors on paper

    17 x 13 7/8 in. (43.2 x 35.2 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1950 (50.12)

    This superbly illuminated page originally formed the right half of a double-page opening to a section of a Qur’an. It combines the three main Islamic types of nonfigural decoration: calligraphy, vegetal patterns, and geometric patterns. The vegetal patterns here are the classical scrolls utilized as the background to the calligraphy, within the compartments of the geometric interlace, and in the text frame and margin medallion. Two ground colors are used to introduce additional patterning.

    Related


    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Ettinghausen, Richard. "Islamic Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 33, no. 1 (Spring, 1975).
    JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Director's Note" PDF
    • MoveSeparatorPrint
    Close
  • Leaf from a Qur'an, 1302–8; Ilkhanid
    Iraq (Baghdad)
    Ink, gold, and colors on paper

    17 x 13 7/8 in. (43.2 x 35.2 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1950 (50.12)