Artwork Page for Youth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript

Details / Information for Youth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript

Youth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript

c.1600–1650

style of Riza-yi Abbasi

(Iranian)
Culture
Iran, Isfahan, Safavid period (1501-1722)
Medium
opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Measurements
Image: 15.3 x 8 cm (6 x 3 1/8 in.); Overall: 27.7 x 16.4 cm (10 7/8 x 6 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1947.497
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

This single painting of a youth holding a favored pomegranate reflects the style of the most gifted painter at the court of Shah ‘Abbas, Riza-yi ‘Abbasi, whose work inspired numerous adaptations and copies by other artists. In this painting, the youth is attired less extravagantly—with less gold thread than those in the two paintings nearby—presumably conveying a lower status. Gold thread was so expensive that rulers occasionally burned old fabrics for the monetary value of the gold.
A manuscript page depicts a person with a light skin tone standing in a beige rectangle on the center left surrounded by a gray-blue color patterned with gold vegetation and birds. The person faces our left, holding a red pomegranate. They wear mint-green robes, blue cloth with gold hashes tied around their waist, and an open gold-and-brown-striped outer garment. Black hair curls escape a black-spotted gold hat adorned with a feather and sheer cloth.

Youth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript

c.1600–1650

Riza-yi Abbasi

(Iranian)
Iran, Isfahan, Safavid period (1501-1722)

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