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Portrait of a Dervish

16th century
Not on view
In the sixteenth century, albums with examples of great painting and calligraphy pasted onto decorated pages became popular. This folio from such an album includes a portrait of a dervish, or member of a mystical religious fraternity, surrounded by lines of poetry from another work. Shown enveloped in a mantle, lost in thought with a string of prayer beads hanging from his sleeve, the dervish embodies the ideal of religious absorption, but the individualized drawing of his face suggests a true portrait.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of a Dervish
  • Date: 16th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Present-day Uzbekistan, Bukhara
  • Medium: Main support: ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
    Margins: gold on dyed paper
  • Dimensions: Page: H. 15 3/4 in. (40 cm)
    W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)
    Painting: H. 7 1/16 (18 cm)
    W. 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm)
    Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
    W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Cora Timken Burnett Collection of Persian Miniatures and Other Persian Art Objects, Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956
  • Object Number: 57.51.27
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
"Yusuf and Zulaikha", Folio 51r from a Bustan of Sa`di, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Yusuf and Zulaikha", Folio 51r from a Bustan of Sa`di
ca. 1525–35
"The Emperor Shah Jahan with his Son Dara Shikoh", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Nanha, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper<br/>Margins: Gold and opaque watercolor on dyed paper
"The Emperor Shah Jahan with his Son Dara Shikoh", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painting by Nanha
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
verso: ca. 1620; recto: ca. 1530–50
Bustan (Orchard) of Sa'di, Mir 'Ali al-Husaini, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; leather binding
Bustan (Orchard) of Sa'di
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali al-Husaini
Author Sa'di
dated 929 AH/1522–23 CE
"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Chitarman Indian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painted by Chitarman
recto: dated 1627–28; verso: ca. 1530–50
Portrait of Muhammad Khan Shaibani, the Uzbek (d.1510), Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Portrait of Muhammad Khan Shaibani, the Uzbek (d.1510)
16th century

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