Harvard Art Museums > 2011.535: Seated Sufi Drawings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Seated Sufi (Attributed to Aqa Riza (Riza ‘Abbasi)) , 2011.535,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 24, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/217260. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2011.535 People Attributed to Aqa Riza (Riza ‘Abbasi), Persian (c. 1560-70 - 1635) Title Seated Sufi Other Titles Alternate Title: A Dervish (Seated Old man with a Beard) Classification Drawings Work Type drawing Date c. 1595 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Qazvin Period Safavid period Culture Persian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/217260 Physical Descriptions Medium Black ink on off-white paper Dimensions 32 x 20 cm (12 5/8 x 7 7/8 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Stuart Cary Welch, Jr., Warner, New Hampshire (by April 1, 1969-2008), by inheritance; to Edith I. Welch, Warner, New Hampshire (2008-2011), gift; to Harvard Art Museums 2011. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Gift of Edith I. Welch in memory of Stuart Cary Welch Accession Year 2011 Object Number 2011.535 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 With a remarkable economy of means, this drawing presents a bearded man in an apparent state of meditation, seated before the tools of a scribe. His tall, bell-shaped cap suggests an affiliation with a Sufi or dervish order. Flowing lines of varying thicknesses define the mass of his body, while minute and delicate brush strokes suggest the textures of his beard, shaven head, and light shawl. Based on the exquisite calligraphic freedom of line coupled with a portrayal of a trance-like state, this drawing has been attributed to Aqa Riza (Riza Abbasi) by Stuart Cary Welch, and Sheila Canby. Publication History Annemarie Schimmel, Mystische Dimensionen des Islam, The University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC, 1985), p. 163, ill. Dr. Sheila R. Canby, The Rebellious Reformer: The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan, Azimuth Editions Ltd. (London, England, 1996), Page 63 & 183/Figure 28 Stuart Cary Welch and Kim Masteller, From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from the Stuart Cary Welch Collection, exh. cat., Yale University Press (New Haven, 2004), pp. 60-61, no. 10 Farid al-Din Attar, Layli Anvar, and Michael Barry, Le Cantique des Oiseaux: illustré par la peinture en Islam d’orient, Diane de Selliers (Paris, 2012), ill. p. 398 Exhibition History Indian and Persian Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/25/1987 - 06/21/1987 Divinely Inspired: Images of Mystics and Mendicants, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/16/1999 - 03/29/1999 From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from SCWelch, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 03/19/2005 - 06/02/2005 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
