2002.50.152: Majnun visited by his father in the desert (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Layla and Majnun by Nizami
ManuscriptsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2002.50.152
- Title
- Majnun visited by his father in the desert (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Layla and Majnun by Nizami
- Classification
- Manuscripts
- Work Type
- manuscript folio
- Date
- 1584
- Places
- Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
- Period
- Safavid period
- Culture
- Persian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/96764
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- 40.1 x 27.3 cm (15 13/16 x 10 3/4 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- [Christies, London, 18 October 1994, lot 32]. [Mansour Gallery, London, 1994 or 1995], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1994 or 1995 - 2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
- Accession Year
- 2002
- Object Number
- 2002.50.152
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
In the tragic romance between Layla and Qays (later known as majnun—“mad” or “possessed”), the two met and fell in love as schoolchildren. Layla’s father rejected Qays’s marriage proposal and separated the pair, and, on his orders, Layla married another man. Majnun, suffering the pain of unfulfilled love, felt that he could no longer be part of human society and became a recluse in the desert wilderness, living among the animals, who accepted his behavior and understood his agony. Although married, Layla remained faithful to Majnun and confined herself to writing poetry. In the tragic conclusion to the story, Majnun died on his beloved’s grave.
The artist of this painting has illustrated an episode in which Majnun’s father visits the love-stricken man in the desert and pleads with him to return to his former life and family. Majnun is shown half naked, a piece of blue cloth tied around his waist, embracing and talking to a deer. Majnun's father fully clothed in a long brown coat and a white turban, gestures to his son.The landscape setting represents a desert oasis with a stream, trees, grass, and flowers. Majnun and his father are surrounded by animals, most of them in pairs whose members interact with each other, reinforcing the viewer’s impression of Majnun’s lonely solitude.
Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
108
Majnun in the Wilderness, from Laylā va Majnūn
Recto: text
Verso: text and illustration
Folio: 40.1 × 27.3 cm (15 13/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
2002.50.152
Published: Christie’s 1994a, lot 32.
In the tragic romance between Layla and Qays (later known as majnūn—“mad” or “possessed”), the two met and fell in love as schoolchildren. Layla’s father rejected Qays’s marriage proposal and separated the pair, and, on his orders, Layla married another man. Majnun, suffering the pain of unfulfilled love, felt that he could no longer be part of human society and became a recluse in the desert wilderness, living among the animals, who accepted his behavior and understood his agony. Although married, Layla remained faithful to Majnun and confined herself to writing poetry. In the tragic conclusion to the story, Majnun died on his beloved’s grave.
The artist of this painting has illustrated an episode in which Majnun’s maternal uncle, Shaykh Salim, visits the love-stricken man in the desert and pleads with him to return to his former life and family. Majnun is shown half naked, a piece of blue cloth tied around his waist, embracing and talking to a deer. Salim, fully clothed in a long brown coat and a white turban, gestures to his nephew. The landscape setting represents a desert oasis with a stream, trees, grass, and flowers. Majnun and Salim are surrounded by animals, most of them in pairs whose members interact with each other, reinforcing the viewer’s impression of Majnun’s lonely solitude.
Mika M. Natif
Publication History
- Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), pp. 163-165, ill.; pp.245-246, cat. 108, ill.
Exhibition History
Verification Level
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