The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Vertically oriented page with staggered rectangles filled with text on one side and an unfinished scene of people standing on grass densely patterned with leaves and flowers on the other. Some wear solid, bright colored robes with dark or light skin tone but most have just the person's preparatory outline. Lower right, a person in light blue robes lays on the grass, others moving towards them. Above, musicians play instruments among trees, all solely outlined.

Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (verso)

c. 1485

style of Bihzad

(Iranian, active 1470–1506)
Afghanistan or Iran, Timurid period (1370–1501)
opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1944.490
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Intoxicated, a man in blue at the lower right has fallen.

Description

The painting is the left side of a double composition; at the upper left are musicians who provide ambient entertainment. A cook prepares meat over a brazier, while a servant brings kebab on a shallow bowl. The unfinished state of this painting reveals the artist's process of creating underdrawings that are filled with color. The verso has an example of calligraphy.
  • ?-1944
    Purchased from Philip Hofer by Edward L. Whittemore Endowment Fund
    1944-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Martin, F. R. The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey, from the 8th to the 18th Century. London: B. Quaritch, 1912. Mentioned: Vol. I, p. 43; Reproduced: Vol. II pl. 68.
    Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Maurice Sven Dimand. A Guide to an Exhibition of Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination. [Portland, Me.]: [The Southworth Press], 1933. Reproduced: P. 31, fig. 19 libmma.contentdm.oclc.org
    Hollis, Howard. "Three Iranian Miniatures." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 32, no. 4 (1945): 35-41. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 35 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 723 archive.org
    Grube, Ernst J. Muslim Miniature Paintings from the XIII to XIX Century from Collections in the United States and Canada. Catalogue of the Exhibition. Venezia: N. Pozza, 1962. Reproduced: cat. no. 53
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 222 archive.org
    Grube, Ernst J, and Pierpont Morgan Library. The Classical Style in Islamic Painting : The Early School of Herat and Its Impact on Islamic Painting of the Later 15th, the 16th and 17th Centuries : Some Examples in American Collections. Place of publication not identified: Edizioni Oriens, 1968. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 191, No. 37
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 222 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 279 archive.org
  • Persian Miniature Manuscripts. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 11, 1977).
    Imperial Images in Persian Painting. The Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 13-September 11, 1977).
    The Classical Style in Islamic Painting.... Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY (November 6, 1968-January 4, 1969).
    The Classical Style in Islamic Painting. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 1, 1968-January 4, 1969).
    Muslim Miniature Paintings. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy, Venezia, Italy (organizer) (September 1-October 31, 1962); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 4, 1962-February 3, 1963).
    Muslim Miniature Paintings from American Collections. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy; Asia House, New York, NY (September 1962-February 1963).
    The Exhibition of Persian Art: 7000 Years of Art in Iran. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (organizer) (October 19, 1961-January 31, 1962).
    7000 Ans d'art en Iran. Petit Palais, Paris, France (October-November 1961).
    Exhibition of Persian Art. Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East, Rome, Italy (organizer) (May 31-September 30, 1956).
    Exhibition of Persian Art. Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome, Italy (May-October 1956).
    Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (December 19, 1955-February 19, 1956).
    Islamic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1944-February 2, 1945).
    Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (October 9, 1933-January 7, 1934).
    International Exhibition of Persian Art. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (January 7-February 28, 1931). [Lent by Philip Hofer, New York]
  • {{cite web|title=Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (verso)|url=false|author=Bihzad|year=c. 1485|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1944.490