Artwork Page for A woman mistakes a cow for the Angel of Death, from a Lights of Canopus (Anwar-i Suhaili) of Kashifi (Iranian, d. 1504)

Details / Information for A woman mistakes a cow for the Angel of Death, from a Lights of Canopus (Anwar-i Suhaili) of Kashifi (Iranian, d. 1504)

A woman mistakes a cow for the Angel of Death, from a Lights of Canopus (Anwar-i Suhaili) of Kashifi (Iranian, d. 1504)

c. 1610

Mughal India, court of Jahangir

(1605–1627)
Medium
Gum tempera on paper
Measurements
Painting: 19.7 x 10.2 cm (7 3/4 x 4 in.); Framed: 38.1 x 26.7 cm (15 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Michael Silver and Deborah Lader in memory of Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver 2019.81
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
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Did You Know?

A previous owner identified the scene as the first cesarean section.

Description

In this gently colored, amply shaded painting, an ailing girl lies listless, eyes barely open, as an attendant fans her. A cow who got her head stuck in a pot has entered the yard in confusion. The girl’s mother, who had been weeping and praying to exchange her own life for the health of her daughter, thought the Angel of Death had come to take her. Pointing to heaven, the woman begs that her daughter be taken instead. Outside the gate, a wandering holy man dozes, indicating this scene takes place in the evening, and a calf annoys her mother as she eats.
A vertically oriented gum tempera drawing on paper features a central rectangular scene framed by a wide, gold-speckled light-blue margin. In the upper register, a figure reclines beneath a thatched pavilion. Below, a woman in a pink robe raises her arms toward a bull carrying a large sphere. At the bottom, a seated figure rests near an enclosure of animals. Fine linework and muted beige washes define the earthy, detailed composition.

A woman mistakes a cow for the Angel of Death, from a Lights of Canopus (Anwar-i Suhaili) of Kashifi (Iranian, d. 1504)

c. 1610

Mughal India, court of Jahangir (1605–1627)

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