Artwork Page for Velvet Fragment, Khusrau Sees Shirin Bathing

Details / Information for Velvet Fragment, Khusrau Sees Shirin Bathing

Velvet Fragment, Khusrau Sees Shirin Bathing

1550–99

Iran, Kashan, Safavid period

(1501-1722)
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Medium
silk; velvet, cut, pile-warp substitution
Measurements
Overall: 21 x 15.9 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.); Mounted: 44.5 x 26.7 cm (17 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1944.499.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

These velvet fragments depict an episode from the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami (1141–1209), in which the lovers Khusrau and Shirin first see each other. A pre-Islamic king of Iran, Khusrau has fallen in love with Shirin after seeing her portrait and is traveling to meet her when he happens across her bathing in a stream. Not yet realizing that she is Shirin, Khusrau is transfixed by the woman’s beauty and covets both her and her magnificent black horse. The horse’s mane is just visible here, and she has placed her crown and tunic atop a branch.
A vertically oriented silk and velvet textile fragment features a bird with a gray body, orange breast, and red crest perched on a dark branch. Facing left, its long tail feathers trail over jagged green and deep-red foliage. Dark branches sweep diagonally across the muted-gold background, interspersed with small green circular pods. The plush golden pile provides a textured, lustrous surface for the colorful avian and botanical motifs.

Velvet Fragment, Khusrau Sees Shirin Bathing

1550–99

Iran, Kashan, Safavid period (1501-1722)

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