The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Horizontally oriented book page depicting a scene in dark colors of two people with dark skin tones flanking a demon. Each hold a gold chain extending from a gold ring around the demon's neck. The demon has a wrinkled, dark grey face, drooping eyes, and a frowning, fanged mouth. The person on our left swings a white-grey blade over their head, on our right looks at the chain they hold in front of their face.

Demon in chains

c. 1453

style of Muhammad Siya Qalam

(Iranian)
Iran or Central Asia, Timurid or Turkoman Period
opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Image: 25.7 x 34.4 cm (10 1/8 x 13 9/16 in.); Overall: 27 x 35.2 cm (10 5/8 x 13 7/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1982.63
Location: Not on view

Description

This page once belonged to a miscellany from the library of the early Ottonian sultans. It depicts two people in nomadic garb leading a demon, or Persian div, in chains between them. The female figure holding the chain to her face is painted to look nearly as ferocious as the captured div. The concept of divs as evil supernatural creatures of mysterious origin dates to pre-Islamic Persia, but they are also described in the text of the Qur'an. Divs in Persian literature and folktales are sometimes captured and forced to use their magic to serve a king or hero.
  • W. Schultz, Leipzig, Germany
    before May 19,1982
    Vignier, Paris, France
    May 19, 1982
    (Sotheby's, New York, NY, Islamic Works of Art, May 19, 1982 sale, no. 4867Y, lot 114, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 70, no. 1 (January 1983): pp. 3–55. Reproduced: pp. 24, 52, no. 64 www.jstor.org
    Grube, Ernst J., and Eleanor Sims. Between China and Iran: Paintings from Four Istanbul Albums: a Colloquy Held 23-26 June 1980. [London]: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1985. Reproduced: fig. 295
    Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Mentioned: p. 358, cat. no. 43 www.jstor.org
    Blair, Sheila, Jonathan Bloom, and Richard Ettinghausen. The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1994. Mentioned: no. 82, p. 62
    Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p. 100-103; Reproduced: p. 101
    Ellcock, Stephen. The Book of Change: Images to Inspire Revelations and Revolutions. London: September Publishing, 2021. Reproduced: p. 239
  • The House of Timur: Princely Arts in Fifteenth Century Iran and Central Asia. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC (April 14-July 6, 1989); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, (August 13-November 5, 1989).
    The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Demon in chains|url=false|author=Muhammad Siya Qalam|year=c. 1453|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.63