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Painted Dado Panels

9th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 453
This dado panel was excavated from a room in the Tepe Madrasa area of Nishapur that once had a lively scheme of painted decoration. The upper section of the wall was colored a deep red, followed by a short horizontal frieze of hexagons and diamonds underneath, and then this four-foot high dado with a frieze of alternating square and rectangular panels. Each panel in the dado was framed with blue, red, and white lines; the rectangular panels were filled with a pattern akin to quartersawn marble, and the square panels had a variety of feathery shapes, scale-covered elements, and interlaced ribbons ending in stylized eyes and hands. This symbolism has no known parallels outside Nishapur, although amulets in the shape of eyes and hands were used to ward off the evil eye. It seems unlikely, however, that this basic interpretation encompasses the whole meaning of the present work.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Painted Dado Panels
  • Date: 9th century
  • Geography: Excavated in Iran, Nishapur
  • Medium: Stucco; painted
  • Dimensions: H. 40 3/8 in. (102.6 cm)
    W. 53 1/2 in. (135.9 cm)
    D. 2 in. (5.1 cm)
    Wt. 195 lbs. (88.5 kg)
  • Classification: Stucco
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1940
  • Object Number: 40.170.176
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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