Turning the pages of an Ottoman illustrated manuscript
This essay is the 2004 Winner of the Margaret B. Sevcenko Prize in Islamic Art and Culture This paper focuses on an Ottoman illustrated manuscript copied in 1498-99, which is now in the…
Album leaf with a Shii invocation, 17th century
This leaf of fine nastaliq calligraphy was conceived as an artistic endeavor, in which the writing is integrated with the ornamental background. The decorative technique of marbleizing paper spread from Iran to Turkey…
Leaf from an Arabic translation of the Materia Medica of Dioscorides
This folio is painted in the lively and appealing style of the Baghdad School: bright colors, sprightly figures in contemporary local dress, and a balanced, bilaterally symmetrical composition. The neutral color of the…
Leaf from Futuh al-Haramain
(Description of the Two Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina) Futuh al-Haramain is an example of a genre of religious writing devoted to the hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage. It serves as a guide to pilgrims…
