painting
- Museum number
- 1914,0407,0.7
- Description
-
Yusuf before Zulaykha, her maids cutting their fingers in wonder. Painting, detached page from an illustrated manuscript of the Haft awrang (Seven thrones) of Jami.
Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper.
- Production date
- 1560-1570 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 15.70 centimetres (Image including borders)
-
Height: 14 centimetres (Image within borders)
-
Height: 22 centimetres (Sheet)
-
Width: 8.80 centimetres (Image including borders)
-
Width: 6.80 centimetres (Image within borders)
-
Width: 13.30 centimetres (Sheet)
- Curator's comments
- Yusuf before Zulaykha, from a Haft Aurang of Jami
Safavid Iran, Khurasan, 1560-70 Opaque watercolour, gold and ink on paper
Jami's Yusuf and Zulaykha is the most popular of the seven poems in the Haft Aurang. The servants of Zulaykha (known in the Bible as Potiphar’s wife), were peeling apples when Yusuf (the biblical Joseph, shown with a flaming halo) entered the room. Captivated by Yusuf’s beauty, the servants cut their fingers in astonishment. The allegorical romance of Yusuf and Zulaykha is one of the most popular stories in the 'Haft Awrang' ('Seven Thrones'), composed in Herat between 1470 and 1506 by the Persian Sufi scholar and writer Jami.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2016 21 May-21 November, London, BM, 'Courting to contract: love and marriage in Iran'
2011 March-July, London, BM, 'No Equal in All the World: Artistic Legacies from Herat, Afghanistan'
- Associated titles
Associated Title: Haft Awrang of Jámí
- Acquisition date
- 1914
- Department
- Middle East
- Registration number
- 1914,0407,0.7
