id:			106704
accession number:	1924.746
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1924.746
updated:		2023-03-04 09:29:30.132000

Qur'an Manuscript Folio, 1500s. Afghanistan, Herat, Safavid period (1501–1722). Ink, gold, and colors on paper; sheet: 28 x 17.4 cm (11 x 6 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1924.746

title:				Qur'an Manuscript Folio
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1500s
creation date earliest:		1500
creation date latest:		1599
current location:		
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Afghanistan, Herat, Safavid period (1501–1722)
technique:	ink, gold, and colors on paper
department:	Islamic Art
collection:	Islamic Art
type:		Manuscript
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Sheet: 28 x 17.4 cm (11 x 6 7/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art
	opening date:   2006-06-09T00:00:00
	<i>The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</i>. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>Main gallery rotation (gallery 116)</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016). (1924.746.1.b and 1924.746.2.a only)

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PROVENANCE

	(Hagop Kevorkian [1872–1962], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1924
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1924-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, was elevated above all other art forms in the Islamic world because Allah (God), revealed the divine word of Islam to the Prophet Muhammad (570–632) in the Arabic language. This beautiful double page forms the opening pages, or <em>unwan</em>, of a Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam. Read from right to left, the verses are written in Arabic in elegant <em>naskhi</em> script on a gold ground with florets identifying the ends of the verses. Calligraphers who specialized in beautiful writing often dedicated their lives to copying the Qur’an to grow closer to Allah and receive his blessings. The pages are enhanced with splendid illumination—ornamentation in colors and gold with scrolling vines, blossoms, lozenges, and cartouches within bordered rectangles. Because the book arts were held in high esteem in the Islamic world, decorative motifs created by illuminators were often adopted in other art forms such as metalwork, textiles, and carpets.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Sims, Lowery Stokes. <em>The persistence of geometry: form, content, and culture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.
	page number: 	Mentioned: no. 23, p. 116; Reproduced: p. 40
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.746/1924.746_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.746/1924.746_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.746/1924.746_full.tif