Plaque
Not on view
This pierced steel plaque contains an inscription in fluid nasta‘liq script against a background of vegetal scrolls, which praises the Prophet, his daughter Fatima, and the Twelve Shi‘i Imams (the Chahardah Ma‘sum, or Fourteen Infallibles). The openwork casts a delicate shadow as light filters through its perforations. Similar plaques were placed on entryway doors surrounding the cenotaphs of holy personages in Shi‘i shrines in Iran.
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