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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

More Artwork

More Artwork
"Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin", Folio 74 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin", Folio 74 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Multiple artists/makers
dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
"The Feast of Sada", Folio 22v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, Abu'l Qasim Firdausi Iranian, Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper
"The Feast of Sada", Folio 22v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
Author Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
Painting attributed to Sultan Muhammad
ca. 1525
Textile Depicting a Scene from Nizami's Khamsa, Nizami, Silk, metal wrapped thread; double-weave
Textile Depicting a Scene from Nizami's Khamsa
Author Nizami
16th–17th century
"Dancing Dervishes", Folio from a Divan of Hafiz, Hafiz Iranian, Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
"Dancing Dervishes", Folio from a Divan of Hafiz
Poet Hafiz
Painting attributed to Bihzad
ca. 1480
"Isfandiyar's Third Course: He Slays a Dragon", Folio 434v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, Abu'l Qasim Firdausi Iranian, Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper
"Isfandiyar's Third Course: He Slays a Dragon", Folio 434v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
Author Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
Painting attributed to Qasim ibn 'Ali
ca. 1530

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