Folio from a Qur'an
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Few objects demonstrate the inventiveness of early Islamic artists as elegantly as the now-dispersed Blue Qur’an. The manuscript reflects an awareness of Byzantine purple-dyed luxury manuscripts written in gold and silver. The later Muslim scribes’ innovations, however, are evident in the manuscript’s horizontal format, indigo-dyed blue parchment, and golden Kufic script. The combination gold and blue may have carried heavenly associations, as the same color scheme was used in the Qur’anic inscriptions in the Dome of the Rock dating to roughly the same period.
Artwork Details
- Title: Folio from a Qur'an
- Date: ca. 900-950
- Geography: Made in Probably Tunisia, Qairawan
- Medium: Gold leaf, silver, and ink on parchment colored with indigo
- Dimensions: 11 1/4 x 14 3/4 in. (28.5 x 37.5 cm)
- Classification: Manuscripts and Illuminations
- Credit Line: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, purchased with funds provided by the Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky (M.86.196)
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters