Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border with poppies and pairs of birds, from the Late Shah Jahan Album (verso) (c. 1653): Art, History and Details

Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border with poppies and pairs of birds, from the Late Shah Jahan Album (verso) (c. 1653) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Treated as a jewel set in gold and floral arabesques, this work is an example of how Mughal patrons held the art of calligraphy in higher esteem than figural painting. This work is unsigned, so the calligrapher remains unknown, but the lines are excerpts from a didactic ode composed by Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) of Delhi, known as the "Parrot of India," one of the most accomplished authors of the Persian language in India. The text itself reads: "Anyone, whether noble or ignoble, who covets wealth, is destined for hell. Aloe-wood and dung, once thrown in the fire, turn to ash. It is hard for an unrefined mind to master sophisticated thought. For the wind to lift up the feet of a mountain is impossible. See to your tasks here and now, for there is mayhem on the Day of Judgment. Draw your water from here, for there is much tumult and mischief out in the sea."

Object facts

• Title: Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border with poppies and pairs of birds, from the Late Shah Jahan Album (verso)
• Date: c. 1653
• Culture: Mughal India, court of Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 37.8 x 27.3 cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1987.153.b

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alton W. Whitehouse

Further reading listed by the museum

• Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.