Folio from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)

Author Farid al-Din `Attar Iranian

dated 892 AH/1486 CE

Not on view

The manuscript of the Mantiq al-tair (The Language of the Birds) from which this leaf comes was copied by one of the greatest of all Persian calligraphers, Sultan Ali Mashhadi, who worked in Herat at the court of the last member of the Timurid dynasty to rule on Iranian soil, Sultan Husain Mirza (d.1506). In about 1600, Shah 'Abbas I, known as "the Great", with his capital in Isfahan, had the manuscript refurbished prior to making a gift of it to his family shrine in Ardebil. The pages were all remounted mostly set into different colored gold-flecked borders, as here, and a few with marbleized patterns. A new frontispiece was added by the esteemed illuminator, Zain al-'Abidin of Tabriz, and four miniatures were added to blank spaces in the manuscript, making up the full complement of eight. A new tooled and gilded binding was also added, all work being completed by the time of the manuscript's presentation to the Ardebil shrine in 1609.

Artwork Details

Title: Folio from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Author: Farid al-Din `Attar (Iranian, Nishapur ca. 1142–ca. 1220 Nishapur)
Date: dated 892 AH/1486 CE
Geography: Attributed to Iran, Isfahan
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1963
Object Number: 63.210.8
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

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Binding and Text-Block for the Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds), Farid al-Din `Attar Iranian, Binding: Leather, gold, and color; carved, impressed, and gilded<br/>Text-block: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper — Binding and Text-Block for the Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Farid al-Din `Attar
ca. 1600

Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds), Farid al-Din `Attar Iranian, Binding: doublure — Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Farid al-Din `Attar
Sultan 'Ali al-Mashhadi
ca. 1600

Page of Calligraphy from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds), Farid al-Din `Attar Iranian, Opaque watercolor and gold on paper — Page of Calligraphy from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Farid al-Din `Attar
dated 892 AH/1486 CE

"Allusion to Sura 27:16", Folio from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds), Farid al-Din `Attar Iranian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper — "Allusion to Sura 27:16", Folio from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Farid al-Din `Attar
Sultan 'Ali al-Mashhadi
dated 892 AH/1486 CE

"Shaikh Mahneh and the Villager", Folio 49r from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds), Farid al-Din `Attar Iranian, Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper — "Shaikh Mahneh and the Villager", Folio 49r from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Farid al-Din `Attar
1487

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