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The Fabulous Creature Buraq

ca. 1660–80
Not on view
Buraq, the beast on which Muhammad is said to have made his "night journey," is depicted, without a rider, as a fantastic creature with the face of a beautiful woman. The body is a composite of many small animals, fish, and birds—a convention generally popular in the eastern Islamic world. The unusually subdued palette is found in a number of paintings and album borders from Golconda, while the portrait is stylistically related to a Bijapur type.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Fabulous Creature Buraq
  • Date: ca. 1660–80
  • Geography: Attributed to India, Deccan, probably Golconda
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Painting:
    H. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)
    W. 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm)
    Overall:
    H. 14 5/8 in. (37.1 cm)
    W. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers Fund, Elizabeth S. Ettinghausen Gift, in memory of Richard Ettinghausen, and Ehsan Yarshater Gift, 1992
  • Object Number: 1992.17
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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