Illuminated folio (recto) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291) (calligraphy: c. 1475–1500; border: c. 1550): Art, History and Details

Illuminated folio (recto) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291) (calligraphy: c. 1475–1500; border: c. 1550) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Sultan 'Ali al-Mashadi (Iranian, 1430–1520).

The work and its context

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

Silver and gold paints were used against an indigo blue background to create a fantastic frame for the text of the Gulistan. Meaning “rose bush” in Persian, this text is a collection of anecdotes in both verse and prose. Here, a winged lion chases a winged deer from the upper margins to the lower, where it rends the mythical deer and sends a toothy fox running.

Object facts

• Title: Illuminated folio (recto) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213–1291)
• Date: calligraphy: c. 1475–1500; border: c. 1550
• Creator attribution: Sultan 'Ali al-Mashadi (Iranian, 1430–1520)
• Culture: Iran
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, gold, and silver on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 30 x 19 cm (11 13/16 x 7 1/2 in.); Text area: 16.3 x 9.8 cm (6 7/16 x 3 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 2006.147.a

A detail from the museum

Words in gold ink mark new sections, while the main text is written in black.

Collection credit

Gift of William Kelly Simpson in memory of his wife Marilyn M. Simpson and her grandparents Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Further reading listed by the museum

• Canby, Sheila R. The Golden Age of Persian Art: 1501-1722. London: British Museum, 2008.

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.