id: 106707
accession number: 1924.746.2.a
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1924.746.2.a
updated: 2023-03-22 14:07:55.305000
Qur'an Manuscript Folio (Recto); Left Folio of Double-Page Illuminated Frontispiece, 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.); text area: 8.4 x 6.4 cm (3 5/16 x 2 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1924.746.2.a
title: Qur'an Manuscript Folio (Recto); Left Folio of Double-Page Illuminated Frontispiece
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:
---
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:
---
CREATORS
---
measurements: Sheet: 28 x 17.4 cm (11 x 6 7/8 in.); Text area: 8.4 x 6.4 cm (3 5/16 x 2 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Translation:
Surah I: 1-7:
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being, the All
merciful, the All-compassionate, the Master of the Day of Doom
Thee only do we serve; to Thee alone do we pray for succour.
Guide us in the straight path, the path of those whom Thou
has blessed, not of those against whom Thou art wrathful,
nor of those who are astray.
Left folio (Surah II, 1-4)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Alif Lam Mim
That is the book, wherein is no doubt, a guidance to the
godfearing who believe in the Unseen, and perform the
prayer, and expend of that We have provided them; who
believe in what has been sent down to thee and that had been
sent down before thee, and have faith in the Hereafter;
those are upon guidance from their Lord, those are the ones
who prosper.
Sura-al-Baqara [Chapter:The Cow] 2:1-4 (Arabic)
Script: Naskhi (five lines to a page)
Written in a very tiny hand, in the center of the white border that surrounds the lower rectangle, is the signature of the illuminator. The inscription is damaged, so that the name is illegible. Ir reads: amala [illegible] al-muzahib (the work of [illegible] the illuminator).
translation:
remark:
---
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Art: The International Language
opening date: 1956-10-02T04:00:00
Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
title: Materials of the Artist
opening date: 1958-03-04T05:00:00
Materials of the Artist. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-December 12, 1958).
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
The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
title: Islamic art rotation
opening date: 2015-12-16T05:00:00
Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016).
---
LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Main gallery rotation (gallery 116). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016).
---
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:
---
fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
The Qur'an is the sacred book of Islam. In the view of orthodox Muslims, it is the literal word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632) in the Arabic language, and thus, recorded in the Arabic script. Because of its association with the divine word, Arabic calligraphy came to be a supreme art form in the Islamic world. As the quintessential symbol of the culture, it became a pervasive decorative element in Islamic art and architecture. Although secondary to calligraphy, a tradition of illumination—that is, ornamentation with colors and gold—developed to enhance the pages of the Qur'an. Because of the prestige associated with the book arts in the Islamic world, the decorative motifs employed by illuminators (scrolling vines, blossoms, lozenges, and cartouches) found their way into other art forms, for example, metalwork, textiles, and carpets.
---
RELATED WORKS
---
CITATIONS
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The persistence of geometry: form, content, and culture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.
page number: Mentioned: no. 23, p. 116; Reproduced: p. 40
url:
---
IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.746.2.a/1924.746.2.a_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.746.2.a/1924.746.2.a_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.746.2.a/1924.746.2.a_full.tif