Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads

mid-1500s

attributed to Sahkulu

(Turkish, active 1526–56)

Culture

Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul

Medium

Ink, gum tempera, and gold on paper

Measurements

Sheet: 17.3 x 40.2 cm (6 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1944.492

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The lion head and phoenix head are part of the foliage, like fantastical blossoms.

Description

A dragon lunges toward a pearl in the form of a seal inscribed with a verse from the Koran: “And I commit my case unto God” (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’s 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.