"Laila Visiting Majnun in the Desert", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi
Although the manuscript was copied at Balkh and completed in 1503 or 1504, the miniature must have been added after the capture of that city by the Safavid, Shah Isma'il in 1510. The tall baton of the cap around which the turban was wound, only appears when the Safavids imposed the Shi'a sect of Islam as the official state religion. The miniature, probably painted in Herat, is still very much in the fifteenth century court style of that city.
Artwork Details
- Title: "Laila Visiting Majnun in the Desert", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi
- Calligrapher: possibly Ala al-Din Muhammad
- Author: Amir Khusrau Dihlavi (Indian, Patiyali, 1253–1325 Delhi)
- Date: 1520–25
- Geography: Made in present-day Afghanistan, Herat
- Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
- Dimensions: H. 8 1/2 (21.6 cm)
W. 5 1/4 in. (13.3cm) - Classification: Codices
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1913
- Object Number: 13.160.3
- Curatorial Department: Islamic Art
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Ala al-Din Muhammad
Amir Khusrau Dihlavi
1520–25
Ala al-Din Muhammad
Amir Khusrau Dihlavi
1520–25
Multiple artists/makers
931 AH/1524–25 CE
early 16th century
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1430
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