Artwork Page for Qur'an Manuscript Folio

Details / Information for Qur'an Manuscript Folio

Qur'an Manuscript Folio

1500s

Afghanistan, Herat, Safavid period

(1501–1722)
View all records in artwork set
Medium
ink, gold, and colors on paper
Measurements
Sheet: 28 x 17.4 cm (11 x 6 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1924.746
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, was elevated above all other art forms in the Islamic world because Allah (God), revealed the divine word of Islam to the Prophet Muhammad (570–632) in the Arabic language. This beautiful double page forms the opening pages, or unwan, of a Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam. Read from right to left, the verses are written in Arabic in elegant naskhi script on a gold ground with florets identifying the ends of the verses. Calligraphers who specialized in beautiful writing often dedicated their lives to copying the Qur’an to grow closer to Allah and receive his blessings. The pages are enhanced with splendid illumination—ornamentation in colors and gold with scrolling vines, blossoms, lozenges, and cartouches within bordered rectangles. Because the book arts were held in high esteem in the Islamic world, decorative motifs created by illuminators were often adopted in other art forms such as metalwork, textiles, and carpets.
Vertically oriented book page completely covered in winding flower and gold vine patterns. A central gold rectangle features five lines of Arabic text written in curving naskhi script, six-petal flowers marking verses. Two narrow rectangles with blue backgrounds flank the gold rectangle, horizontal rectangles with blue background flanking above and below, these with a braid-like gold pattern around the edges. A border with a black background runs between these, before a final surrounding blue-backgrounded band.

Qur'an Manuscript Folio

1500s

Afghanistan, Herat, Safavid period (1501–1722)

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.