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"The Eavesdropper", Folio 47r from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja

Calligrapher Maulana Azhar
Poet Nizami
Painting by Unknown
ca. 1430
Not on view
This folio once illustrated a magnificent manuscript of Nizami’s Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits). The story of the Seven Portraits comprises a series of moralizing tales as told to the Persian hero Bahram Gur by seven princesses. This lively and lyrical scene illustrates a story in which a youth spies upon maidens swimming in a garden pool by moonlight. The voyeur is barely visible here, peering out of the shuttered window, unbeknownst to the playful bathers below.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "The Eavesdropper", Folio 47r from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
  • Calligrapher: Maulana Azhar (died 1475/76)
  • Poet: Nizami (present-day Azerbaijan, Ganja 1141–1209 Ganja)
  • Artist: Painting by Unknown
  • Date: ca. 1430
  • Geography: Made in present-day Afghanistan, Herat
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Painting: H. 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm)
    W. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
    Page: H. 11 in. (27.9 cm)
    W. 7 3/16 in. (18.3 cm)
    Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
    W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913
  • Object Number: 13.228.13.6
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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