The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Folio from a Qur'an

1100s

Iran, Seljuq period

(1037–1194)
ink, gold, and colors on paper
Sheet: 30.6 x 20 cm (12 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1933.488
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Kufic script was named after the ancient Mesopotamian city Kufa (in today’s Iraq), where it developed.

Description

East Persian ornamental Kufic (a script used for Qur’an transcriptions) in black, red, and gold fill this page, which is additionally decorated with gold and blue medallions on its border. Twenty-three lines from the Qur’an’s Surah al-Waqi'ah (The Event, or Day of Resurrection; 56: 1–26) are on the recto and 23 lines from Surah al-Rahman (The Compassionate, 55: 73–78) are on the verso.
  • ?-1933
    Ananda K. Coomaraswamy [1877-1947] sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1933-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Bulletin, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, XXVII, no. 162, p. 51
  • Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 7, 2017-October 29, 2018).
  • {{cite web|title=Folio from a Qur'an|url=false|author=|year=1100s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1933.488