.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The figure in this painting takes direct inspiration from an engraving by Henrick Goltzius of Clio, the muse of history. Examples of the print include one in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc.no.M.88.91.271d) and another in the British Museum (acc.no.1854,0513.110). Goltzius' prints were very popular in Europe and beyond: his depictions of Titus Manlius Torquatus and Mucius Scaevola were amalgamated into one composition by Keshav Das. The resulting painting is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (acc.no.RP-T-1993-33). F. R. Martin attributed this particular one to Ottoman Turkey, noting that Ottoman artists showed an equal interest in the copying of European engravings.
The marbling to the verso is of exquisite quality, and the calligraphy displays the Safavid predilection for combining naskh with large-scale muhaqqaq script. The name Shams al-Din Ali appears on the colophon of a Kulliyat of Sa'di in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (acc.no.Per 123). However, stylistic evidence suggests that that manuscript was completed around 1440, making it significantly earlier than the date on our signature. A similar combination of scripts, including some lines set diagonally, can be seen on an illuminated panel signed by Abd al-Baqi al-Tabrizi and dated to AH 1013 / 1604-5 AD, which sold in these Rooms, 21 October 2016, lot 220.
The marbling to the verso is of exquisite quality, and the calligraphy displays the Safavid predilection for combining naskh with large-scale muhaqqaq script. The name Shams al-Din Ali appears on the colophon of a Kulliyat of Sa'di in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (acc.no.Per 123). However, stylistic evidence suggests that that manuscript was completed around 1440, making it significantly earlier than the date on our signature. A similar combination of scripts, including some lines set diagonally, can be seen on an illuminated panel signed by Abd al-Baqi al-Tabrizi and dated to AH 1013 / 1604-5 AD, which sold in these Rooms, 21 October 2016, lot 220.