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Illustrated Manuscript of the Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami | Harvard Art Museums | KenAI

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Illustrated Manuscript of the Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami

Illustrated Manuscript of the Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami

ManuscriptsPersian15th century

Illustrated Manuscript of the Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami

1489

Description

The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece. The text is copied in nastaʿliq script with 19 lines and four columns to a page. The manuscript includes 24 illustrations in the Turkman style. The first Colophon in f. 117r, at the end of the book of Khusraw and Shirin, provides the name of the scribe, Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Mas‘ud, known as Mun‘im al-Awhadi, and the date 16 Shaʿban 894 (15 July 1489). The second colophon on f. 181r at the end of the book of Layla and Majnun gives the scribe’s name and the date 12 Ramadan 894 (9 Aug 1489). The codex contains 385 folios (including the last two replacements) and is incomplete. Several notes and seals at the beginning have been obliterated. The notes in French on the first flyleaf indicate that the manuscript was owned by Basile B. Corpi in 19 June 1885 in Constantinople. The binding has dark brown grainy coarse leather on the outside cover, decorated with stamped pieces in gold and green, inlaid on the central lozenge, pendants and corner pieces, and light brown plain leather on the inside cover.

Classification

Manuscripts

Medium

Ink, colors, and gold on paper; leather binding

Culture

Persian

Period

Aq Qoyunlu period

Century

15th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

29 x 18 x 6 cm (11 7/16 x 7 1/16 x 2 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), loan; to Harvard Art Museums, 2015. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.

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