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Wall Painting with Female Figure

9th–10th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 453
Along with several other intriguing fragments, this piece of wall painting was discovered in the drain in one of the houses of the Sabz Pushan neighborhood. All of the discarded fragments bore images of people or demon-like figures, but in their broken state, it was difficult to determine what kind of scene they originally composed. Wall paintings are fragile and rarely survive, but evidence from sites throughout Iran and Central Asia demonstrate their popularity in the medieval period. The varied examples of wall painting found at Nishapur—such as a hunting scene with male and female heads from the bathhouse at Qanat Tepe, the dados with scrolls terminating in human hands from Tepe Madrasa, and a mounted hunter a standing figure to his left found at the Vineyard Tepe—are therefore extremely important to the study of this medium.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Wall Painting with Female Figure
  • Date: 9th–10th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran, Nishapur. Excavated in Iran, Nishapur
  • Medium: Stucco; painted
  • Dimensions: H. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)
    W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)
    mount:
    H. 11 in. (27.9 cm)
    W. 10 5/16 (26.2 cm)
  • Classification: Stucco
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1938
  • Object Number: 38.40.248
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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