{
"data": {
"id": 170796,
"accession_number": "2013.301",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Layla and Majnun in the wilderness with animals, from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi, c. 1590\u20131600. Attributed to Sanwalah (Indian, active c. 1580\u20131600). Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; page: 24.9 x 16.8 cm (9 13/16 x 6 5/8 in.); painting: 18.6 x 16.2 cm (7 5/16 x 6 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, 2013.301",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Layla and Majnun in the wilderness with animals, from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi",
"creation_date": "c. 1590\u20131600",
"creation_date_earliest": 1590,
"creation_date_latest": 1599,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [],
"technique": "Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art - Mughal",
"type": "Painting",
"measurements": "Page: 24.9 x 16.8 cm (9 13/16 x 6 5/8 in.); Painting: 18.6 x 16.2 cm (7 5/16 x 6 3/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"page": {
"height": 0.249,
"height_inch": 9,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.8125,
"width": 0.168,
"width_inch": 6,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.625
},
"painting": {
"height": 0.186,
"height_inch": 7,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.3125,
"width": 0.162,
"width_inch": 6,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.375
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "Calligraphy of Persian sayings from the aphoristic meditations of Khwaja Abd-Allah Ansari (Persian, 1006\u20131089) in top and bottom borders, in nasta\u2018liq script:\nWhat is \u201cdervishness\u201d? It is a little lump of fine purified soil with a sprinkling of a few drops of water: neither is the sole of the foot irritated by it, nor does the heel of the foot collect dust from it.\n\nThe work of the lowly . . .",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "Persian inscription at top right, in nasta\u2018liq script:\nthe meeting of Layla and Majnun, lover and beloved",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 203111,
"title": "Art and Stories from Mughal India",
"description": "Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).",
"opening_date": "2016-07-31T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 31, 2013-June 30, 2014).",
"opening_date": "2013-12-31T05:00:00Z"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(Sotheby\u2019s, London, England, Fine Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 12 December 1966 sale, lot 55, sold to Ralph Benkaim)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "December 12, 1966",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "Ralph Benkaim [1914\u20132001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1966\u20132013",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "2013\u2013",
"sortorder": 3
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "White paint, prone to flaking, chipped off her face, revealing the underdrawing.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Nestled in the multicolored rocks are the reunited lovers Layla and Majnun, forced by society to remain separated for years. Majnun\u2019s name means \u201cmadman,\u201d since the separation drove him past the brink of sanity. Exiling himself to the wilderness, he became emaciated. When Layla found him after a prophetic dream, the wild animals gathered around, drawn to the purity and depth of their love. This painting illustrates a version of the story as told by an Indian author who wrote in Persian. He altered the ending given by previous Persian authors to the ancient Bedouin tale that originated among nomadic tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, in which Layla dies before the couple can be physically reunited.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60481290"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2013.301-layla-and-majnun-in"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. 18, p. 191",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Archives of Asian Art 64, no. 2 (2014): 226.",
"page_number": "226",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Munroe, Nazanin Hedayat. Sufi Lovers, Safavid Silks and Early Modern Identity. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 99\u2013101, fig. 3.7",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.301",
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"date_created": "2015-09-14T16:00:46",
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"creditline": "Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
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"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 170796,
"creators": [
{
"id": 63474,
"description": "Sanwalah (Indian, active c. 1580\u20131600)",
"extent": null,
"qualifier": "attributed to",
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"use_in_caption": true,
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"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2013-12-02T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1590,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 1590\u20131600",
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 08:46:13.394000"
}
}