Young Man and Woman in a Landscape

Young Man and Woman in a Landscape

Amorous encounters of a modest nature between young men and women, that is to say, seated at a distance from one another, are abundant in miniature painting, in particular in the story of Bahram Gur and the Seven Princesses from the Khamseh of Nezami. However, in both single-figure painting and drawing the subject is rarely represented. In the Museum's drawing, even though the figures are posed and composed in an interactive fashion, each finds its precedence in other images. The pose of the woman and her gesture of offering a bowl and fruit are reminiscent of the paintings of the seven princesses from a Khamseh of Nezami in the Museum.[1] The young man leaning on a pillow with bent knees, one resting on the ground, and the head inclined is known, although in a bolder twist of the pose, from A Youth and an Old Man, inscribed by Reza 'Abbasi in the Vever Collection at the Sackler Gallery, and from a single-figure painting in the Metropolitan Museum.[2]

In determining the subject matter, it is tempting to label the images as lovers in a landscape. Yet in comparison with seventeenth-century representations of lovers, often portrayed in a close embrace, this couple's love affair appears tame and platonic.[3] Theirs seems to be the muse and the poet relationship, closer in spirit to the "youth and the dervish" group than to the lover group. No matter how we interpret the subject, the idyllic setting and the two tree trunks in the upper left-hand corner, bending toward one another in a gesture of intimacy, imply a poetic mood as does the figures' remote encounter.

[Swietochowski and Babaie 1989]

Footnotes:

1. See Chelkowski, Peter J. Mirror of the Invisible World. New York, 1975, miniatures 7–9 (13.228.7, folios 213a, 216b, 220a).

2. See Lowry, Glenn D., and Susan Nemazee. A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection. Washington, D.C., 1988, fig. 66 and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 55.121.39; Robinson, B.W. Persian Drawings from the 14th through the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1965, pI. 56.

3. See the well-known painting Two Lovers by Reza 'Abbasi in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ettinghausen, Richard, and M. L. Swietochowski. "Islamic Painting." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Fall 1978, p. 30 (50.164).

Young Man and Woman in a Landscape

The theme of lovers in conversation derives mainly from Persian romance poetry of the medieval period. In the seventeenth century, the subject matter became popular for album drawings and paintings. This lyrically composed image of a young couple in a landscape is an example of this kind of album leaf.

The poetic mood of this drawing is suggested by the soft curving silhouettes of the figures and their tender gestures and gazes. The mood is further reinforced by the idyllic landscape and the intertwined outlines of the trees in the background.

The calligraphy line, thinning and swelling as it follows the outlines of the subjects, is a characteristic of the early seventeenth-century style. Originally popularized by the master painter Riza 'Abbasi (d. ca. 1635), it became the dominant style among his students and followers from whose ranks the artist of this drawing probably emerged.

Sussan Babaie in [Walker 1994]

George D. Pratt, New York (by 1933–d. 1935); Vera Amherst Hale Pratt, New York (life interest 1935–45)

Palm Beach, FL. The Society of the Four Arts. "Loan to the Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Fl," February 2, 1962–February 27, 1962, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Persian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 13–December 31, 1989, no. 24.

Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 20.

Barcelona. City History Museum of Barcelona. "The Human Condition: The Image of Man in Art," May 10, 2004–September 26, 2004, p. 151.

Swietochowski, Marie, and Sussan Babaie. Persian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989. no. 24, pp. 58–59, ill. pl. 24 (b/w).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahli, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 20, pp. 84–85, ill. (b/w).

"The Dream of a Shadow." In La Condicion Humana; The Human Condition. Barcelona: Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat de Barcelona (MHCB), 2004. pp. 150–51, ill. p. 151 (color).