"Bahram Gur in the Dark Palace on Saturday", Folio 207 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja

931 AH/1524–25 CE
Not on view
The artist has used the color black, which according to the text, should be all-pervasive, with elegant restraint. He has, like a skilled haute-couturier, avoided somberness and set off the black by contrasting it with both bright colors and light shades. Also its use in each costume and in the dome and spandrels of the architecture effectively unifies the composition. The air of courtly leisure in this miniature is particularly apparent.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Bahram Gur in the Dark Palace on Saturday", Folio 207 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
  • Author: Nizami (present-day Azerbaijan, Ganja 1141–1209 Ganja)
  • Calligrapher: Sultan Muhammad Nur (Iranian, ca. 1472–ca. 1536)
  • Calligrapher: Mahmud Muzahib (Iranian, ca. 1500–1560)
  • Artist: Painting by Shaikh Zada (Iranian, active 1510–1550)
  • Date: 931 AH/1524–25 CE
  • Geography: Made in present-day Afghanistan, Herat
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Painting: H. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
    W. 4 1/2 (11.4 cm)
    Page: H. 12 1/2 in. (31.9 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
  • Object Number: 13.228.7.8
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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