  About the Artwork
  
  
  Renowned calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi penned the Persian script at the center of this work around the early 1500s. More than one hundred years later, artists in Mughal India attached the calligraphy to a larger page, framing it with meandering grapevines inhabited by pairs of birds. Mughal artists also carefully outlined each calligraphic line, then filled the surrounding space with gold and intricately painted flower designs.

The page, with imagry on both sides, was bound into an album of calligraphy and paintings created for the Mughal emporer Shah Jahan (reigned 1628-58) toward the end of his rule. Known as the Late Shah Jahan Album, this collection of artworks is now dispersed. 

In the Mughal (1526-1858), members of the elite avidly collected the work of Mir 'Ali Haravi and other calligraphers. Viewers appreciated the text for both its visual and poetic beauty.
  
  
  Title
  Calligraphy from the Late Shah Jahan Album (recto)
  
  
  Artwork Date
  calligraphy between 1505 and 1545, borders between 1650 and 1658
  
  
  
  
  Makers
  
  
  (Artist)
  Mughal, Indian
  Mir &#039;Ali Haravi  (Calligrapher)
  Persian, active ca. 1505 - 1545
  
  
  
  Medium
  Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 15 3/16 × 9 7/8 inches (38.6 × 25.1 cm)
  Image: 7 1/4 × 3 3/4 inches (18.4 × 9.5 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  Islamic Art
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2019.98.A
  
  
  Copyright
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