Folio from a Falnama (Book of omens); recto: blank; verso: Angels bow before Adam and Eve in Paradise

Folio from a dispersed copy of Falnama (Book of omens); text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; recto: blank; verso: illustration: Angels bow before Adam and Eve in Paradise; one of a group of twenty folios.
Border: The painting has occupied the full width of the page.

Historical period(s)
Safavid period, mid 1550s-early 1560s
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 59.3 x 44.5 cm (23 3/8 x 17 1/2 in)
Geography
Iran, Qazvin
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.254
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript, Painting
Type

Detached manuscript folio

Keywords
Adam, angel, Eve, Falnama, Henri Vever collection, Iran, paradise, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Folio from a dispersed copy of Falnama (Book of omens); text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: blank; verso: illustration: Angels bow before Adam and Eve in Paradise; one of a group of twenty folios.
Border: The painting has occupied the full width of the page.

Published References
  • World of Khusrau: Innovations & Contributions. .
  • Hotel Drouot. Extreme Orient, archéologie orientale et islamique, antiquités préhispaniques, Febuary 21, 1922. Paris, 1922. no.117.
  • Islamic Art from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd: Circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service, 1966-1968. Washington. cat. 42.
  • Karin Rührdanz. Publication title unknown. .
  • B. W. Robinson. Miniatures Persanes: Donation Pozzi. Geneva. cat. nos. 34-37.
  • , Massumeh Farhad, J.M. Rogers, Marianna Shreve Simpson. Persian Masters: Five Centuries of Paintings. Bombay. dust jacket.
  • Gaston Migeon. MIniatures Persanes: Collections Henri Vever et Pozzi., December 6, 1930. .
  • Georges Marteau, Henri Vever. Miniatures Persanes: tirees des collections de M.M. Henry d'Allemagne, Claude Anet, Henri Aubrey... 2 vols., Paris, June-October 1912. pls. LXIII, LXIV.
  • Perry E. Cott. Recent Accessions of Near Eastern Miniature Paintings. no. 1. fig.14.
  • Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Les Miniatures Orientales de la Collection Goloubew au Museum of Fine Arts Boston. vol. 13, Paris. pl. LXI.
  • Michel Beurdeley. Maitres Rheims et Laurin: Vente Palais Galliera, Paris, 19 Juin, 1970. Exh. cat. Paris. cat. nos. 53, 54.
  • The Chester Beatty Library: A Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts and Miniatures. vol. III Dublin. vol. 3: cat. 395.
  • B. Deniz Calais-Kural. Three circular gardens in Venice and Constantinople/Istanbul in the context of early modern Mediterranean cross-cultural exchange. Basingstoke, United Kingdom, 2018. p. 12, fig. 9.
  • Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran, 1501-1576. Exh. cat. Milan. p. 16, fig. 1.4.
  • Armen Tokatlian. Falnamah: Livre Royal des Sorts. Paris. p. 21, pl. 5.
  • Catalogus tentoonstelling van Islamische kunst., May 15-July 3, 1927. cat. 17, p. 22.
  • Na'ama Brosh, Rachel Milstein. Biblical Stories in Islamic Painting. Exh. cat. Jerusalem. cat. 36, pp. 25-29.
  • Thomas W. Lentz. Pictures for the Islamic Book: Persian and Indian Painting in the Vever Collection. vol. 1, no. 4 New York, Fall 1988. pp. 26, 29, fig. 11.
  • Edgar Blochet. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Persian Paintings...held at the Gallery Demotte Inc. Exh. cat. New York. pp. 26-27.
  • G. Guillaume. Miniatures Iraniennes de la collection Henri Vever. no. 8 Paris. pp. 35-37.
  • Massumeh Farhad, Serpil Bagci. Falnama: The Book of Omens. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 12, pp. 46, 96-97, 257.
  • Kjeld von Folsach. Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection., rev. ed. Copenhagen. cat. 35, p. 48.
  • Glenn D. Lowry. Persian Miniatures from the Vever Collection. vol. 18, no. 9 Hong Kong, Spring 1989. p. 51.
  • John Seyller. The Adventures of Hamza: Painting and Storytelling in Mughal India. Washington. no. 4, p. 58.
  • Anthony Welch. Collection of Islamic Art: The Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection. 4 vols., Geneva. pp. 67-71.
  • Rachel Milstein, Karin Rührdanz, Barbara Schmitz. Stories of the Prophets: Illustrated Manuscripts of Qisas al-Anbiya. Islamic Art and Architecture Series, no. 8 Costa Mesa, California. p. 70.
  • Anthony Welch, Stuart Cary Welch. Arts of the Islamic Book: The Collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. Exh. cat. Ithaca. pp. 79-81.
  • Ernst Grube. Muslim miniature paintings from the XIII to XIX century from collections in the United States and Canada. Cataloghi di mostre Venice. cat. 61, pp. 83-84.
  • America's Smithsonian: Celebrating 150 Years. Washington, 1996. p. 88.
  • Stuart Cary Welch. Treasures of Islam. Exh. cat. London. cat. nos. 62-65, pp. 94-99.
  • Ivan Stchoukine. La peinture turque d'après les manuscrits illustrés. 2 vols., Paris. pp. 100-101.
  • Karin Rührdanz. Orientalische illustrierte Handschriften aus Museen und Bibliotheken der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik: Ausstellung im Islamischen Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. Exh. cat. Berlin. pp. 100-101.
  • B. W. Robinson. Persian Miniature Painting from Collections in the British Isles. Large Picture Book, no. 33 London. cat. 147, p. 103.
  • Recent Accessions. New York. p. 109.
  • B. W. Robinson. Catalogue des Peintures et des Calligraphies Islamiques Leguees par Jean Pozzi au Musee d'Art et d'Histoire de Geneve. Geneva. p. 124.
  • Edwin Binney 3rd. Turkish Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd. New York. cat. 47, p. 124.
  • Estelle Whelan. Writing the Word of God: Some Early Quran Manuscripts and their Milieux, Part 1. vol. 20 Washington and Ann Arbor. cat. 34, p. 126.
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Susan Nemanzee. A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 32, pp. 126-127.
  • Sophy Burnham. A Book of Angels. p.139.
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 172, pp. 140, 143.
  • Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson, Basil Gray. Persian Miniature Painting: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March 1931. Exh. cat. Oxford, January - March 1931. cat.213b, p. 145.
  • Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art. Exh. cat. London. cat. 244b, p. 152.
  • Edwin Binney 3rd. Turkish Treasures from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd. Portland, Oregon. cat. 99, pp. 152-154.
  • Henry Corbin, Paul Pelliot, Eustache de Lorey. Les Arts de l'Iran, l'ancienne Perse, et Bagdad. Paris. cat. 71, 72, p. 164.
  • Richard Ettinghausen. Islamische Kunst: Meisterwerke aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat. Berlin. pp. 194-195.
  • Berliner Festspiele. Taswir: Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne [Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity]. Exh. cat. Berlin. p. 194.
  • Oleg Grabar. Masterpieces of Islamic Art: The Decorated Page from the 8th to the 17th Century., English ed. New York. p. 207, fig. 106.
  • B. W. Robinson. L'Orient d'un collectionneur: miniatures persanes, textiles, céramiques, orfévrerie rassemblés par Jean Pozzi: collections du Musée d'art et d'histoire-Genève, du Musée historique des tissus et du Musée des arts décoratifs-Lyon. Exh. cat. Geneva. no. 89-92, pp. 235-256.
  • Eleanor Sims, Boris I. Marshak, Ernst Grube. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and its Sources. New Haven and London. p. 296.
  • The Arts of Islam: Hayward Gallery, 8 April-4 July 1976. Exh. cat. London. cat. 612 a-b, p. 362.
  • Jan Rypka. History of Iranian Literature. Dordrecht, Holland. pp. 675-6.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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