Decorated Folio

Unknown

16th–17th century · Ink, gold, and watercolor on paper · Islamic Art

This unfinished page has been ornamented using a stencil, which was used to form the outline of the flowering tree and animal motifs. This work is notable for its variety of animal forms, including two gazelles in different animated postures, a soaring bird, two vicious quadrupeds in combat, and a div holding a rock above its head, ready to attack. Pages like this originally framed paintings, drawings or samples of calligraphy, which would have been included in an album. This part of the page illustrates how a single folio in Islamic manuscripts and albums could comprise layers of decorative framing paper as well as pasted text and picture segments.

Artist

Unknown

Date

16th–17th century

Medium

Ink, gold, and watercolor on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of Dr. Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, in loving memory of her husband, Professor Maan Z. Madina, 2019