Royal Hunting Scene and Dedicatory Page from Kamal al-Din Husayn Gazurgahi’s Assembly of Lovers (Majalis al-Ushhaq)
| Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Culture | Islamic |
| Title | Royal Hunting Scene and Dedicatory Page from Kamal al-Din Husayn Gazurgahi’s Assembly of Lovers (Majalis al-Ushhaq) |
| Date | 15th century |
| Medium | Tempera, ink, and and gold on paper |
| Dimensions | Overall (each side): 10 5/8 x 6 5/8 in. (26.99 x 16.83 cm) Framed (Exhibition Frame): 17 1/8 x 21 1/8 x 1 in. (43.5 x 53.66 x 2.54 cm) |
| Credit Line | Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry R. Hope, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 60.42 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
A double manuscript page depicting hunters.
These manuscript folios feature a royal hunt—the only surviving painting from the manuscript depicting this type of scene—and a dedicatory panel decorated with gold and lapis patterns. The text dedicates the manuscript to Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara (r. 1469–1506), the last Timurid ruler based in the capital city of Herat. His imperial authority is impressively displayed in the dramatic hunting scene that extends across rocky and open terrain. Huntsmen on horseback and on foot slay wild boar with their swords, shoot arrows at deer, and send foxes scrambling, while mounted falconers hunt duck against a gold backdrop in the upper register.
Intriguingly, this manuscript was likely transcribed in Herat in the second half of the fifteenth century, while the dedicatory page and some paintings were added about fifty years later in Bukhara with a false claim of imperial production during the Golden Age of Timurid rule.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Royal Hunting Scene and Dedicatory Page from Kamal al-Din Husayn Gazurgahi’s Assembly of Lovers (Majalis al-Ushhaq) | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=60.42