1963.90: Calligraphic Portrait of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1963.90

People

Calligraphy by Ibrahim Danishpishah (Zarin-Qalam), Iranian

Title

Calligraphic Portrait of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

Classification

Albums

Work Type

album folio

Date

1344 AH/1924-1925 CE

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran

Period

Qajar period

Culture

Persian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/215660

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Ink, color and gold on paper

Dimensions

33.6 x 23.2 cm (13 1/4 x 9 1/8 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Chester A. Priest

Accession Year

1963

Object Number

1963.90

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

This composition depicts `Ali ibn Abi Talib, Islam's fourth orthodox caliph and first Shi`i imam. In the smaller vignettes below, horsemen representing `Ali's grandsons Qasim and `Ali Akbar flank a central image in which the Prophet Muhammad riding Buraq is greeted by `Ali in the guise of a lion. The composition incorporates pious expressions and verses from the Qur'an (2:255; 12:64; and 113). The date has been slightly abraded so that it is easy to misread it as 1244 (1828-29) rather than 1344 (1924-25).

Publication History

• Annemarie Schimmel, "Poetry and Calligraphy: Thoughts about their Interrelation in Persian Culture", ed. Richard Ettinghausen, Westview Press, Inc. (Colorado, 1979), p. 208, fig. 121
• Rahim Habibeh, Inscription As Art In the World of Islam - Unity In Diversity, exh. cat., Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY, 1996), page 24/figure 1
• Maryam Ekhtiar, "Infused with Shi`ism: Representations of the Prophet in Qajar Iran", Picturing Prophetic Knowledge: The Prophet Muhammad in Cross-Cultural Literary and Artistic Traditions, ed. Christiane Gruber and Avinoam Shalem, De Gruyter (Berlin, 2014), pp. 97-138, pp. 109-110, ill. pp. 137-138

Exhibition History

• Islamic Art From the Collections of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/1974
• The Continuous Stroke of a Breath: Calligraphy from the Islamic World, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 12/20/2003 - 07/18/2004
• 32Q: 2550 Islamic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/26/2017 - 11/08/2017
• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/10/2015 - 05/10/2015

Verification Level