Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Persian Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border of flowers, birds, and deer
Mir 'Ali Haravi (Persian, active in Herat, Afghanistan, died c. 1550)calligraphy: c. 1500–1540; border: c. 1630–40
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
About 100 years after the calligraphy was completed by a Persian master and embellished with gold and floral arabesques, the small page was mounted into an album for the Mughal emperor of India. Mughal artists filled the outer border with floral vines, blooming and budding with many varieties. Pairs of birds perch throughout; male and female deer relax, listening to the birdsong. The Indian artists chose to emphasize nature’s abundance and life-giving forces, whereas the Persian artists sought to achieve exquisite, gemlike refinement.
The central poem, by Ibn-i Yamin (Persian, 1286–1368), encourages the reader not to worry about unexpected calamities.
Details
- Title: Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Persian Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border of flowers, birds, and deer
- Creator: Mir 'Ali Haravi (Persian, active in Herat, Afghanistan, died c. 1550)
- Date Created: calligraphy: c. 1500–1540; border: c. 1630–40
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 36.8 x 25.2 cm (14 1/2 x 9 15/16 in.)
- Provenance: Herbert F. Leisy [1900–1977], Cleveland Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.207
- Medium: Gum tempera, gold, and ink on paper
- Inscriptions: Ever since knotted locks of your hair were tied around your throat,/ My neck has also been chained by your tresses./ Henceforth my lot is to lament and cry,/ sounding like the [awakening] caravan bell,/ Protesting against these fellow travelers who have tied a heavy load on a nightingale.
- Fun Fact: On the right, two white-throated kingfishers, a species native to Asia, sit on thin vines.
- Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Culture: Mughal India, court of Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58)
- Credit Line: Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy
- Collection: Indian Art
- Accession Number: 1977.207
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