Illuminated Page: Yusuf (Joseph) in Kiosk

Date16th century

Label TextThroughout the 16th century, Abd al-Rahman Jami’s Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) was illustrated in manuscripts across Central Asia. Haft Awrang is composed of seven stories: four didactic poems and three romances. This painting is from one of the didactic poems, the Tuhfat al-Ahrar (Gift of the Free), and illustrates its twenty-fifth section, in which a traveler from Canaan gifts Yusuf a luminous mirror. (The poetic text that appears in the painting is presented more clearly below.) The act of looking in a mirror emphasizes Yusuf’s beauty, for which he was well-known. His beauty is further enhanced by blossoming flowers and trees, a visual metaphor for his budding youth. The painting is compositionally and thematically similar to a painting in the Smithsonian Institution (S1986.52.1). تحفه ای افزون ز لقای تو چیست گر روی از جای به جای تو کیست نیست جهان را به صفای تو کس غافل ازین تیره دلانند و بس

An image of Yusuf in a kiosk, or pavilion, also shows this holy figure sitting in state. The artificial nature of this scene is indicated by the Persian writing in the upper left corner, in a style of script called nasta'liq, as well as by the rich golden background and highly abstract flowering fruit trees. Yusuf sits on an elaborately decorated throne platform while courtiers surrounding a pond address him. As in most Persian paintings, this work shows little interest in rendering a three-dimensional space with naturalistic, modeled figures. The figures cast no shadows and display few emotions. The impression the viewer receives is one of an ideal, dreamlike setting.

Object number47.17

Provenance[Heeramaneck Galleries]; purchased by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1947

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySan Diego, California, San Diego Fine Arts Society, Persian Exhibition, 1949 (Pasadena, California, Pasadena Art Institute, 1949). Seattle, Washington, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Warp and Weft of Islam, Mar. 10 - Apr. 15, 1978 (Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Fall 1979). Provo, Utah, Brigham Young University, Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islam, Feb. 24, 2012 - Nov. 2013. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 28, 2022 - Jan. 8, 2023].Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 22 (b&w) Al Khemir, Sabiha. "Light / Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World." Seville, Spain: Focus-Abengoa Foundation in association with Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2013, p. 93, illus. fig. 53, p. 92

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

Dimensions7 3/8 x 4 3/16 in. (18.8 x 10.7 cm)

MediumGouache on paper