Decorative Drawing
Unknown Artist
first half 15th century
Medium
Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions
H. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm) W. 4 in. (10.2 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1941
Accession Number
41.46
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Decorative Drawing* from first half of the 15th century offers a glimpse into the refined world of Islamic manuscript illumination. Created by an unknown artist using ink, watercolor, and gold on, it measures just 5½ by 4 inches—a diminutive scale perfect for the pages of a codex, or bound book. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Islamic Art Department, this work exemplifies the artistry of Persian or regional Islamic traditions during a golden age of book production, when codices held Qur'ans, poetry, histories, and scientific texts. The piece showcases masterful tech...