1960.117.336: Birds and Lotus (painting, recto, text, verso), folio 336 from a manuscript of the Divan (Collection of Works) of Anvari
Manuscripts
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1960.117.336
- Title
- Birds and Lotus (painting, recto, text, verso), folio 336 from a manuscript of the Divan (Collection of Works) of Anvari
- Classification
- Manuscripts
- Work Type
- manuscript folio
- Date
- 1588
- Places
- Creation Place: South Asia, Pakistan, Punjab, Lahore
- Period
- Mughal period
- Culture
- Indian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/169623
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- folio: 13.8 x 7.6 cm (5 7/16 x 3 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Louis J. Cartier collection. John Goelet, New York, NY, (by 1960), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1960.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of John Goelet
- Accession Year
- 1960
- Object Number
- 1960.117.336
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
The recto side of the folio features two small rectangles containing green birds flanking a rectangle with text. Below is a small painting of various birds at a bank of a river that is lined with lotuses. The paintings and the rectangular text block visually break up the two columns of text. All of the text is written in Persian in black ink and in nasta’liq script. The larger painting marks the division of two types of text, Anvari’s mathnavi, a poem of rhyming distichs, and the lyric ghazals, which are a type of amatory poem or ode.
The folio belongs to an illustrated copy of the Divan of Anvari commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) in 1588 and in Lahore. The poet Anvari (1126-1189) is considered one of the greatest figures in Persian literature. His panegyric in honor of the Seljuq sultan, Ahmad Sanjar (r. 1118-1157) earned him royal favor and the patronage of two of Sanjar’s successors. Anvari’s poems were collected in a Divan, which contains eulogies, satire, panegyrics, and other forms of poetry and prose.
Publication History
- Annemarie Schimmel, Terres d'Islam: Aux Sources de l'Orient Musulman, Maisonneuve et Larose (Paris, France, 1994), Pg. 159
Exhibition History
- Anvari's Divan: A Pocket Book for Akbar, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 02/07/1984 - 03/28/1984
- 32Q: 2590 South and Southeast Asia, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 05/14/2015
Subjects and Contexts
- Google Art Project
Related Objects
Verification Level
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