An Image of Majnun with Verses from the Poem Layla va Majnun
19th century
Description
The unmistakable image of Majnun—dreamy-eyed but skeletal—marks the vertical axis of this work. The figure is boxed in by 20 lines of Persian poetry. The rubric “Image of Majnun” is written in Persian above his head, and a small gazelle reposes below his feet. In his hands he holds an open copy of the Qur’an. A blue floral border frames the work.
Dimensions
Folio: 28.5 x 20 cm (11 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Provenance
Stuart Cary Welch, Jr. Collection, New Hampshire (by 1969-2011), sold; through [Sotheby’s, London, 5/31/2011, lot 57]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2011. Note: Prior to being returned to the Welch family in 2009, this object had been on loan to the Harvard Art Museums beginning on April 1, 1969 as TL17443.36, while in the Collection of the late Stuart Cary Welch Jr.
Related Artworks
View MoreLeft: brown ink over graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and pounced with red chalk; Right: brown ink over graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and pounced with red chalk (recto)
19th centuryPersianLeft: Brown ink over graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and verso rubbed with red chalk and charcoal; Middle: red ink on off-white modern laid paper; pricked; Right: red ink on off-white modern laid paper (recto)
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianBrown ink and gold ruling lines on off-white wove paper (recto); Note: drawing mounted overall with colored paper borders (recto); Graphite on off-white wove paper; pricked (verso)
19th centuryPersianGreen and red inks and graphite on off-white wove paper (recto); Top: red ink with touches of brown ink and graphite on off-white laid paper; pricked and verso rubbed with charcoal; Middle: graphite on blue wove paper; Bottom: black ink and black wash over graphite on off-white laid paper, pricked (verso)
19th centuryPersianGraphite on off-white wove paper; pricked (recto)
19th centuryPersianGraphite on off-white wove paper (recto); Watercolor and black ink on off-white paper (verso)
19th centuryPersianInk, colors, and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianBlack counterproof with touches of black ink on off-white wove paper (recto); Red ink, watercolor and graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and rubbed with red chalk (verso)
18th-19th centuryPersianGraphite on off-white modern laid paper (recto); Black ink, watercolor and crayon on off-white paper (recto); Note: drawing mounted overall with colored paper borders
19th centuryPersianTop: black and brown inks, watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper; Bottom: red ink and graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and verso rubbed with red chalk (recto)
19th centuryPersian