The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 6, 2024

Yusuf and Zulaykha meeting

Yusuf and Zulaykha meeting

c. 1764
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Joseph wears a Central Asian fur-trimmed hat and coat and holds Indian paan.

Description

Joseph, called Yusuf in Arabic and Persian sources, had been thrown into a well by his jealous older brothers. Although his eldest brother intended to return and rescue him, Joseph was taken by a caravan and brought to Egypt to be sold as a slave. When Zulaykha saw Joseph in the market, she recognized him as the lover she had seen in her dreams since childhood and so purchased him for herself. When read as a religious allegory, Zulaykha’s passionate desire for Joseph is interpreted as the yearning of the soul to be joined with the perfect beauty of God.
  • ?–1939
    Leonard C. Hanna Jr., Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1939–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Milliken, William. "The Coralie Walker Hanna Memorial Collection Gift of Leonard C Hanna." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 26, no. 6 (June 1939): 84-115 Mentioned: p. 108; Reproduced: p. 114 www.jstor.org
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 49
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    India's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 2, 1949-January 22, 1950).
  • {{cite web|title=Yusuf and Zulaykha meeting|url=false|author=|year=c. 1764|access-date=06 December 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1939.164