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"Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin", Folio 74 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja

dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 455
In Nizami’s tale of Khusrau and Shirin, the princess Shirin has an ardent admirer in the talented sculptor and stonemason, Farhad. When Shirin desires milk from a herd of goats that graze in a distant field, Farhad sets to work cutting a channel from the goats’ mountain pastureland to a pool at the foot of Shirin’s palace. In this painting, Shirin visits Farhad upon his completion of the pool. At the very top of the composition, a goat cavorts in its hillside home.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin", Folio 74 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
  • Author: Nizami (present-day Azerbaijan, Ganja 1141–1209 Ganja)
  • Calligrapher: Sultan Muhammad Nur (Iranian, ca. 1472–ca. 1536)
  • Calligrapher: Mahmud Muzahib (Iranian, ca. 1500–1560)
  • Artist: Painting by Shaikh Zada (Iranian, active 1510–1550)
  • Date: dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
  • Geography: Made in present-day Afghanistan, Herat
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Painting: H. 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm)
    W. 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm)
    Page: H. 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm)
    W. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 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: 13.228.7.5
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
Overflap and Inside Cover of a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Binding: leather; embossed, gold, and color <br/>Manuscript: ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Overflap and Inside Cover of a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Multiple artists/makers
dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
"Khusrau Catches Sight of Shirin Bathing", Folio 50 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Khusrau Catches Sight of Shirin Bathing", Folio 50 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Multiple artists/makers
dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
"Battle between Alexander and Darius", Folio 279 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Battle between Alexander and Darius", Folio 279 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Author Nizami
Calligrapher Sultan Muhammad Nur
dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
"Alexander at a Banquet", Folio 321b from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
"Alexander at a Banquet", Folio 321b from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Author Nizami
Calligrapher Sultan Muhammad Nur
dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE
"Marriage of Khusrau and Shirin", Folio 104 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Marriage of Khusrau and Shirin", Folio 104 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Multiple artists/makers
dated 931 AH/1524–25 CE

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