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Wine Drinking in a Spring Garden

ca. 1430
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 455
The youth offering a cup of wine to a maiden reflects a Persian courtly ideal expressed in poetry as well as painting. But it was common practice for Timurid artists to turn to Chinese models for pictorial inspiration.

In this case, Chinese elements are seen in the arrangement of figures on a horizontal groundline set against a neutral, undefined background, the sinuous style of the flowering prunus tree that braces the princess, the motifs on the figures’ gold-embroidered garments, and the use of undyed silk as a support.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Wine Drinking in a Spring Garden
  • Date: ca. 1430
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran, possibly Tabriz
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on undyed silk
  • Dimensions: H. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)
    W. 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Cora Timken Burnett Collection of Persian Miniatures and Other Persian Art Objects, Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956
  • Object Number: 57.51.24
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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