Stencil of Arabesque Design
1 of 2
Caption
Stencil of Arabesque Design, 1410–11. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, 3 7/16 x 8 1/4 in. (8.8 x 21 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Wilkinson, 72.26.15. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Stencil of Arabesque Design
Date
1410–11
Dynasty
Timurid
Period
Timurid
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Classification
Dimensions
3 7/16 x 8 1/4 in. (8.8 x 21 cm)
Inscriptions
In Persian: "...the beloved...waist, that is, nothing. I tossed at her feet my heart and soul, that is to say, nothing. They asked, "What do you learn in school?" "Contemplation of so-and-so's tight mouth," [I replied], that is, nothing. The soul cannot escape your pleasing tresses. Reason cannot escape the danger of your perilous down. Even if the heart has, as they say, the audacity of lions, It cannot escape your lion-taming intoxicated narcissus. That moon, which has a train of poetic tresses, As stingy as my heart, has a horde. She says, "I am inclined to kill you." Thank God, at least she has an inclination." -Translated by Professor Wheeler Thackston, Harvard University, Feb. 1991
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Wilkinson
Accession Number
72.26.15
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