{
"data": {
"id": 124005,
"accession_number": "1944.492",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads, mid-1500s. Attributed to Sahkulu (Turkish, active 1526\u201356). Ink, gum tempera, and gold on paper; sheet: 17.3 x 40.2 cm (6 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1944.492",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads",
"creation_date": "mid-1500s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1526,
"creation_date_latest": 1556,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul"
],
"technique": "Ink, gum tempera, and gold on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Islamic Art",
"collection": "Islamic Art",
"type": "Drawing",
"measurements": "Sheet: 17.3 x 40.2 cm (6 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"sheet": {
"height": 0.173,
"height_inch": 6,
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}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
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"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "[stamp between dragon and phoenix, in Naskh script] And I commit my case unto God. [Qur\u2019an 40:44]",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": 1
}
],
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"current": [
{
"id": 312146,
"title": "Islamic Art",
"description": "Islamic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1944-February 2, 1945).",
"opening_date": "1944-11-03T04:00:00"
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{
"id": 355529,
"title": "Exhibition of the Month: Components of Art: The Line",
"description": "Exhibition of the Month: Components of Art: The Line. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 12, 1948).",
"opening_date": "1948-02-12T05:00:00"
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{
"id": 355703,
"title": "Persian Decorative Art",
"description": "Persian Decorative Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 15-March 16, 1952).",
"opening_date": "1952-01-15T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 700743,
"title": "Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts",
"description": "Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (December 19, 1955-February 19, 1956).",
"opening_date": "1955-12-15T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 701409,
"title": "Exhibition of Persian Art",
"description": "Exhibition of Persian Art. Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East, Rome, Italy (organizer) (May 31-September 30, 1956).",
"opening_date": "1956-05-31T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 519268,
"title": "Muslim Miniature Paintings",
"description": "Muslim Miniature Paintings. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy, Venezia, Italy (organizer) (September 1-October 31, 1962); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 4, 1962-February 3, 1963).",
"opening_date": "1962-09-01T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 445110,
"title": "Turkish Art: An Exhibition Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the Turkish Republic",
"description": "Turkish Art: An Exhibition Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the Turkish Republic. Fogg Art Museum/Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (organizer) (May 8-June 10, 1973).",
"opening_date": "1973-05-08T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 442106,
"title": "Turkische Kunst und Kultur aus osmanischer Zeit (Turkish Art and Culture of the Ottoman Period)",
"description": "Turkische Kunst und Kultur aus osmanischer Zeit (Turkish Art and Culture of the Ottoman Period). Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, Germany (organizer) (April 25-June 30, 1985); Villa H\u00fcgel, Essen, Germany (August 7-October 27, 1985).",
"opening_date": "1985-04-25T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 311444,
"title": "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum",
"description": "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).",
"opening_date": "1991-06-07T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 380793,
"title": "Islamic art rotation",
"description": "Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 3, 2012-December 9, 2013).",
"opening_date": "2012-12-03T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 535998,
"title": "Nature Supernatural",
"description": "Nature Supernatural. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2023-March 3, 2024).",
"opening_date": "2023-09-22T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Islamic Gallery 116 rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 19\u2013December 4, 2017).",
"opening_date": "2017-12-04T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Charles Ricketts and Charles Shannon, R.A.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "(Philip Hofer, Cleveland, OH and New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "?\u20131944",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1944\u2013",
"sortorder": 3
}
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"did_you_know": "The lion head and phoenix head are part of the foliage, like fantastical blossoms.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "A dragon lunges toward a pearl in the form of a seal inscribed with a verse from the Koran: \u201cAnd I commit my case unto God\u201d (40:44). In his front claw, the dragon grasps two flowering branches that magically produce a variety of blooms, including a lion that bites the dragon\u2019s neck and a phoenix, who competes for the pearl.
Sahkulu was trained by Persian artists, as were many artists of Mughal India during the 1500s. He joined the Ottoman imperial painting atelier in Istanbul in 1526 and became the head in 1545.",
"external_resources": {
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"citations": [
{
"citation": "Islamic Art: Selected Examples from the Loan Exhibition of Islamic Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 16.",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/IslamicArtCMA/page/n26"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 718.",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n131"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 224.",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n248"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 224.",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n248"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 282.",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n302"
},
{
"citation": "At\u0131l, Esin. Traditional Ottoman Designs: Their Origin and Application. Istanbul: Mepa, Medya Pazarlama San. ve Tic. A.S\u0327, 1999.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 13.",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Roxburgh, David J. Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2005.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: Fig. 37, p. 152.",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: pp. 170-171.",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: P. 306, fig. 8.21; Mentioned: P. 305.",
"url": ""
}
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"alternate_titles": [
"Dragons in Foliage; Single Page Illustration and Inscription Stamp (Arabic)",
"Dragon Combat"
],
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 06:23:31.260000"
}
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