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Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads
Sahkulu (Turkish, active 1526–56)mid-1500s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
A dragon lunges toward a pearl in the form of a seal inscribed with a verse from the Koran: “And I commit my case unto God” (40:44). In his front claw, the dragon grasps two flowering branches that magically produce a variety of blooms, including a lion that bites the dragon’s neck and a phoenix, who competes for the pearl.
Sahkulu was trained by Persian artists, as were many artists of Mughal India during the 1500s. He joined the Ottoman imperial painting atelier in Istanbul in 1526 and became the head in 1545.
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Details
- Title: Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads
- Creator: Sahkulu (Turkish, active 1526–56)
- Date Created: mid-1500s
- Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 17.3 x 40.2 cm (6 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.)
- Provenance: Charles Ricketts and Charles Shannon, R.A., (Philip Hofer, Cleveland, OH and New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Drawing
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1944.492
- Medium: Ink, gum tempera, and gold on paper
- Inscriptions: [stamp between dragon and phoenix, in Naskh script] And I commit my case unto God. [Qur’an 40:44]
- Fun Fact: The lion head and phoenix head are part of the foliage, like fantastical blossoms.
- Department: Islamic Art
- Culture: Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: Islamic Art
- Accession Number: 1944.492
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