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Silk Kashan Carpet
The Emperor's Carpet
Velvet and Silk Carpet
Carpet with Scrolling Vines and Blossoms
Five Medallion Carpet
Carpet with Palm Trees, Ibexes, and Birds
Silk Animal Carpet
Carpet with Triple-Arch Design
Buddhist Priest's Ceremonial Robe
Carpet
Ceremonial Hanging (Palepai)
Royal Carpet with Silk and Metal Thread
Floral Tent Panel
Textile Fragment
Canopy with Dragon among Flowers
This folio from Walters manuscript W.580 is the left side of an illuminated double-page frontispiece of geometric design in gold, red, blue, and green, with a marginal rosette at the left.
Length of velvet
Textile
Silk Velvet Designed by 'Ghiyath'
Textile Fragment
Pichhwai for the Festival of Cows
Walters manuscript W.619 is an illuminated manuscript containing 2 works by Sa"di (died 691 AH/AD 1292): the Gulistan (Rose garden) and the Bustan (Orchard). It was copied in 980 AH/AD 1572 by Muhammad Riza al-Tabrizi in Iran. The text of the Gulistan appears in the main area, while that of the Bustan is inscribed obliquely around the main text area on three sides. Both texts are written in black and gold nasta"liq script. The margins are multi-colored, gold-sprinkled tinted or marbled paper. The original leather binding dates to the 10th century AH/AD 16th and has dentelle-style decorated boards and doublures with gold filigree work over a multi-colored ground of blue, green, red, and black.
Rectangular Textile Fragment
Tigers Chasing Deer, with Dragon
Mandala Base
Fragment (Dress Fabric)
The setting for the painting is the royal stables in Isfahan. The upper portion of the scene consists of a platform on which are gathered the shah, or Persian king, who appears next to the column on the right; five kneeling courtiers; and various attendants serving fruit and wine. The king is identified in the artist’s signature at the upper left as Shah ‘Abbas II, who died in 1666, but it is possible that the undated painting was executed after his death. The ruler’s status is emphasized by his golden halo and by the opulent gold and jeweled vessels placed before him. The lower portion shows a roundup of horses who bear the trident-like royal brand on their flanks; they move in a spiral that coils counterclockwise from the upper right. The scene bursts with energy and looks chaotic—a brawl is taking place at the lower left—but the courtiers and handlers seem to be getting control of the animals. The figures on the platform, meanwhile, pay no attention to the commotion below. The painting represents a new journalistic, even anecdotal approach to Persian painting introduced in the second half of the seventeenth century. The viewer gets the sense that the work may record a specific moment in daily life at court and that it was observed firsthand. Figures no longer conform to stock types but are highly individualized by facial features and dress. Standing just to the right of center in the upper part of the roundup scene is a man wearing a gold, fur-lined, armless jacket. He holds a list and is writing notes while conferring with a young man in a blue robe. The man taking notes may well be the supervisor of the royal stud, one of whose responsibilities was to inspect the king’s stables and keep an inventory of the animals.
Velvet Fragment with Design from Nizami of Ganja's Khusrau and Shirin
Leaf from Album of Persian Calligraphy
Palampore
European Banquet Scene (or The Marriage Feast at Cana?)
Walters manuscript W.620 has a brown leather blind-stamped binding with a flap. The binding is decorated with a central oval medallion and pendants. This binding is not original to the manuscript.
Walters manuscript W.620 has a brown leather blind-stamped binding with a flap. The binding is decorated with a central oval medallion and pendants. This binding is not original to the manuscript.
This drawing, Walters manuscript leaf W.749, was executed in Safavid Iran, most probably in the late 10th century AH/AD 16th, in Qazvin or Isfahan. Above, a farmer plows; below, a seated young man watches a produce seller weigh his purchase. On the rocks in the center foreground is inscribed the name of one of the most famous painters in Iran in the 11th century AH/AD 17th, Riza 'Abbasi (active 1001-1044 AH/AD 1591-1592 to 1634). As the handwriting does not match that of the artist, an admirer of Riza's work seems to have attributed the drawing to him. The execution and the bucolic subject matter of this drawing relate closely to the oeuvre of the Persian artist Muhammadi Haravi (active late 10th century AH/AD 16th), who worked in Qazvin. It is possible that this composition was conceived as a manuscript page.
Collection of Poems (Divan)
Book on Navigation
Thangka with the Seventh Bodhisattva
Cape
This illuminated title page from Walters manuscript W.581 gives the title of the work, as well as the authors' names. There is also a statement referring to the patronage of the manuscript, indicating that it was made for the Mawlawi (Mevlevi) Library (bi-rasm al-Khizanah al-Karimah al-"Aliyah al-Mawlawiyah).
Tile Panel
Bridal Robe (Hwarot)
"Black Buck", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Ceremonial Cross of Countess Gertrude
Manuscript Cover with Prajnaparamita Attended by Sadakshari Lokeshvara and a Tara
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript
Cover Panel for a Tihong
Velvet Panel with Flowering Plants
Green Tara
Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Phoenix in Paulownia
Icon of the Mother of God and Infant Christ (Virgin Eleousa)
A woman sits in the center of this vertical panel painting and gazes down at a baby lying across her lap while two winged angels hold up a red, gold, and black brocade-like patterned cloth behind her. All the people have pale skin, pink cheeks, blond hair, and flat, gold halos. The woman’s body is angled slightly to our right, and she holds her hands crossed over her chest as she gazes down at the baby. The woman has a straight, pointed nose and a small, pink-lipped mouth. Her azure-blue robe covers her head and drapes over much of the crimson-red dress beneath. The edge of the robe and cuff of her dress are trimmed in gold. The baby lies with his arms slightly raised, and he looks up at the woman. His hips and legs are wrapped with sheer white cloth. The angels in the upper corners of the panel both wear robes in the same azure blue of the woman, and the garments have a gold band around the high waist and gold around the neckline. They look at the woman and hold up the cloth that falls behind and under her and the baby.
Giuliano de' Medici
A winged angel with arms crossed kneels across from a young woman sitting and holding a book, both under an archway in a paneled room in this vertical painting. They both have pale, yellow-toned skin, blond hair, and flat, gold halos. They also have golden brown eyes, long, straight noses, smooth cheeks, and their pale, pink lips are closed. To our right, the woman sits in a throne-like chair with her body facing our left. Her head tilts down, and she looks toward the angel under lowered lids. Her hair is pulled back under the neck of the lapis-blue cloak she wears over a crimson-red dress. The dress and cloak are trimmed with gold, and a there is a gold starburst on the cloak over her left shoulder, closer to us. She holds her other hand up near that shoulder with her fingertips brushing her chest. With her other hand, she holds open the pages of a small book in her lap, so her fingers overlap some of the words. The entire Latin inscription would read, “virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitur nomen eius emmanuel butirum et mel come dit ut fiat reprobare.” A slender, bone-white column separates her from the angel across from her, along the left edge of the painting. The angel has curly, shoulder-length hair and wears a robe with a gold, floral pattern against a burgundy-red background. Long, golden wings emerge from the shoulder blades and extend off the side of the composition. An open archway just beyond the angel is filled with streaks of flax yellow and burnt orange, possibly representing flames. Some of the walls in the room around the pair are pale olive green and other areas are darker spruce green. There are bands of coral-pink molding and inset panels of patterned mosaics. The flat ceiling of the space immediately over the pair is decorated with checkerboard panels in navy blue, hunter green, brown, and brick red. Gold lines create a ray coming from the ceiling toward the woman. At the back of the space, beyond the column separating the woman and angel, the room extends into an alcove with an arched hallway painted with gold stars against a midnight-blue background. Double doors open at the back of the alcove onto a room with a pale-yellow curtain with a mesh-like trim. We see the pair as if through a stone archway that lines the top and sides of the composition. The upper corners are filled with leafy decorations, as if carved into the stone.
Alexander the Great Enthroned at Persepolis
Puppies
The Adoration of the Magi
Honderd gezichten op de berg Fuji - deel drie
Young Woman Smoking a Huqqa
Tile Panel
Tile Panel
The top and bottom panels of this illuminated finispiece from Walters manuscript W.578 are inscribed with the basmalah and hamdalah in white Thuluth script. The Qur'anic verses in the central panel are written in Square Kufic.
Portrait of a Ladakhi Mountain Goat
Quilt
Saint in Red Cloak
Tile with Floral and Cloud-band Design
Center table
Hinds House Window
On this folio from Walters manuscript W.653, a middle-aged woman stands in a landscape, holding a vase of flowers. The salmon pink margins are stenciled with animal and floral forms. The catchword at the lower left indicates that the following folio is missing.
La pala fu commissionata per la cappella della villa medicea di Cafaggiolo,ristrutturata da Michelozzo nel 1451. Il Wedgwood Kennedy ipotizza una commissione da parte di Piero il Gottoso, per il quale il Baldovinetti aveva giá lavorato nella cappella della SS. Annunziata e, forse, in quella di S. Croce. Lo studioso suggerisce una datazione per la committenza al 1453, anno di nascita di Giuliano, secondogenito di Piero, avvalorata dalla presenza di San Giuliano insieme agli altri santi "medicei".
Pink and Rose
This page from Walters manuscript W.674 bears 4 diplomas written within illuminated cartouches inscribed in ijazah script by the following master calligraphers: Yaziji zadah, Isma'il al-Zuhdi Katib al-Saray al-Sultani, Muhammad Hasib, and 'Ali al-Wasfi. The page is dated 1219 AH/AD 1804-1805.
Grapevine in the Wind
Icon of the Virgin and Child
Buddhist Deities
A Maid Asleep
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript
The Wade Cup with Animated Script
Angel (Peri) Riding a Composite Camel
This is the final illuminated page in the codex, Walters W.582. The last panel contains the colophon, written in Riqa' script, giving the name of the scribe as Habib Allah ibn Dust Muhammad al-Khwarizmi.
Thanka with Buddha
This painting depicts three people seated side-by-side outdoors. The central person is a young, nude child with curly, reddish hair and a red beaded necklace, sitting on a red cushion. Their head is turned to the right. The woman on the left wears a white head covering, a sheer veil around her neck, a green dress, and a red cloak with floral designs. She holds the torso of the child and drapes a white cloth around its legs. The woman on the right has long, flowing reddish hair and wears a white dress or robe with gold detailing down the front, on the neckline, and on the wrists. She holds an open red book, and the child is turning one of the thin pages. All three people have pale skin. Above them, in the cloudy blue sky, there is a white dove with its wings outstretched, gold lines radiating from it. Above the dove, there is an image of a crowned bearded man with pale skin, wearing red robes and holding an orb. He is against a golden background with red dots that breaks through the pale clouds. The background shows a landscape with green trees, hills, and pale blue buildings.
Silk Velvet Fragment with Tiger-Stripe and 'Cintamani' Design
Books and Scholars’ Accoutrements
A Stallion
A woman and winged angel, both with pale, peach skin, are situated in a church interior in this tall, narrow painting. To our left, the angel has long, blond, curly hair, smooth skin, and is smiling. The wings are outlined in royal blue, and they blend from blue to green to yellow to crimson. The angel holds one hand, closer to us, up at chest height with the index finger subtly pointing upward. Holding a long scepter in the other hand, the angel angles their body toward the woman to our right. The angel wears a gold jewel and pearl-encrusted crown and a jeweled long, voluminous robe in scarlet-red and shimmering gold brocade. The neck and along the opening down the front are lined with pearls and jewels. The angel looks toward the woman, who wears a royal-blue dress tied with a red belt at the high waist. Her long brown hair is tied back but one tendril falls over her left shoulder, to our right. She kneels facing us with her raised hands facing outward. Her head is tipped a bit to our left, and she looks up and into the distance to our right with lips slightly parted. She kneels behind a book lying open on a low table. A vase of white lilies and a red cushion lies on the floor in front of the table, close to us. The floor is decorated with people and scenes outlined in black and set into square panels, as if inlaid with wood. The church behind and above the people has a row of tall, narrow arches with bull’s-eye glass windows. A walkway lined with columns runs above the arches, and sunlight comes in through arched windows under the flat wood ceiling. A white dove flies toward the woman on gold lines from a window at the upper left of the painting. Latin words painted in gold capital letters are exchanged between the people. The angel says, “AVE GRA PLENA.” The letters of the woman’s response are painted upside down and backward: “ECCE ANCILLA DNI.”
This folio from Walters manuscript W.596 depicts the fall of Samarqand.
Kast met het wapen Alberda
"Dancing Dervishes", Folio from a Divan of Hafiz
Cabinet
A Procession Scene with Musicians, from a copy of the Padshanama
Jewelry Elements
Shown from the chest up on the far side of a narrow ledge, a woman wearing an elaborate headdress and gown faces our left in profile in this vertical portrait painting. Her pale-peach skin is smooth with little shading around the features. The hazel eye we see is heavy-lidded under a thin, arched brow. The woman has a notably high forehead and a sloped nose. Her lips are closed over a knobby chin and fleshy jawline. Her hair is gathered up in a fine gold net under a twisted, ring-like headdress held in place with long gold pins. The fabric of the headdress alternates between twists of parchment brown or light brown patterned with red or darker brown leaf patterns. A network of muted blue dots encircled with gold does not quite line up with the headdress it overlays. The high collar of the woman’s peacock-blue dress flares up the back of her head over a white collar that curls away along either side of her chin. The garment is covered with flowers and stems outlined in gold. There are thick gold bands at her neck and around her waist. A chain made up of two strands of gold orbs like oversized beads hangs from the shoulder closer to us and then wraps around her body. A gold pendant near her neck may be two chain links or a thin letter B. Light glints off the ledge along the bottom of the painting, and the background is inky black.
This illustration from Walters manuscript W.644 depicts Zulaykha in a blue-domed litter on a camel led by a cameleer. The retinue is entering the capital of Egypt.
"The Concourse of the Birds", Folio 11r from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Shown from the chest up on the far side of a ledge, a pale-skinned, clean-shaven young man faces our right in profile in this vertical portrait painting. He looks steadily forward. The eye we can see is brown under a thin, curving brow. His nose is bumped near the bridge, and he has a slight underbite. His pale pink lips are closed, and he has a delicate jawline. Short brown hair brushes the side of his face under a coral-red turban, the ends of which fall down his back. A high-collared dark brown garment is edged with white around the neck, and a cranberry-red robe or jacket falls open over his chest. He is shown against a dark, teal-blue background. The ledge along the bottom of the painting is black with edged with gold. Gold lettering reads, “MATHEVS OLIVIERI D NI IOANNI FILI.”
Mirror with Phoenixes, Birds, Butterflies, and Floral Sprays
Four Portraits from the St. Petersburg Album. Painters unknown, borders by Muhammad Sadiq. Top left: Nadir Shah, Iran, ca. 1740. Top right: Adil Shah, Iran, ca. 1748. Bottom left: Unidentified nobleman, Mughal school, 18th century. Bottom right: Unidentified nobleman, Mughal school, 18th century. Art Institute of Chicago 1919.952 recto
Irises
Kichik Beg Wounded during Babur's Attack on Qalat, from a copy of the Baburnama (Book of Babur)
Tánggǔ (堂鼓)