Unknown Iranian Artist
Jami Manuscript Page from the Story ‘Yusuf and Zuleika’
1557
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Unknown Iranian Artist
Jami Manuscript Page from the Story ‘Yusuf and Zuleika’
1557
Physical Qualities
Ink and gold on paper, 254 × 149 mm. (10 × 5 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Richard and Elizabeth S. Ettinghausen in Memory of Adelyn D. Breeskin
Object Number
2013.223
The story of Yusuf and Zulaikha written by the Iranian poet Jami (1414–1492) is a narrative epic describing the soul’s longing for its creator. Princess Zulaikha dreams of and then finds Yusuf, a young man of extraordinary beauty. She succumbs to and suffers for the intense physical desire she feels for him but ultimately, Yusuf’s pure faith and Zulaikha’s unwavering love prevail. In the Old Testament (Genesis 39) version, they
are known as Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.
The story is written in nasta’liq, a script popular for copying poetry in Iran. The elegant, cursive style is distinguished by changes of width within the single strokes which were executed by a highly-trained calligrapher using a reed pen with a razor-sharp point. Other specialists prepared the gold paint from nearly pure gold powder mixed with saffron and dry glue for the decorative border filled with real and imaginary birds and animals amidst flowers and rocks.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2013 (on extended loan from 1962); Elizabeth Ettinghausen, Princeton, NJ; Richard S. Ettinghausen
Frances Klapthor, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Art Across Asia: West Asian Connections," July 19, 2017-November 12, 2018