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"Fable of the Lion and the Hare", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna

dated 733 AH/1333 CE
Not on view
The literary work known as Kalila wa Dimna comprises a series of moralizing tales told through a cast of personified animals, including two jackals, Kalila and Dimna. Sanskrit versions of these tales are known from as early as the fourth century; a popular Persian translation was made in the twelfth century. This folio, from an early fourteenth-century manuscript copied in Shiraz, depicts a scene from the story of the Lion and the Hare, who are shown here looking at their own reflections in a well.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Fable of the Lion and the Hare", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna
  • Date: dated 733 AH/1333 CE
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran, Shiraz
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Painting: H. 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm)
    W. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm)
    Page: H. 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)
    W. 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm)
    Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
    W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.7
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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"Rustam Pleads for Tus Before Kai Khusrau," Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)
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Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi, Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi Iranian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi
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Author Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
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"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
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