2-999-343 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Single Leaf from Mantiq al-tayr by Farid al-din `Atta, late 9th century AH/AD 15th century. This Timurid leaf depicting a funeral procession, Walters W.678, is from a copy of Mantiq al-tayr (The language of the birds) by the Persian Sufi poet Farid al-Din 'Attar (died 618 AH/AD 1221). It represents a glass-making or ceramics workshop, (top), and a son's lamentation at his father's funeral (below). The parent manuscript was likely produced in Timurid Herat or Bukhara in the late 9th century AH/AD 15th. There are fewer than 10 known illustrated copies of the Mantiq al-tayr. The painting is surrounded by a biscuit-coloured, gold-sprinkled border. In the bottom right corner is a later attribution to the famous Persian artist Bihzad (died 942 AH/AD 1536-1537).