Moʿin Moṣavver | Individual Drawings and Paintings
Painting 1687.1
A Couple Embracing
Location: Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, no.W690.
Painting: (H x W) 19.5 x 10.5 cm. Page: 35.5 x 24 cm.
Signature: Unsigned but dated 1[0]98/1687.
Inscription
Bottom right, reads: betāriḵ-e panjom-e šahr-e šaʿbān al-moʿaẓem sana 1[0]98. Translation: “The fifth of the honored month of Šaʿbān in the year 1[0]98/16 June 1687.” The inscription is unsigned but in the handwriting of Moʿin.
Description:
An adolescent and a young lady are kneeling facing the left. The young lady, on the left, holds a flacon of wine in her left hand, and reaches back with her right hand to pass a cup to her companion. While pressing his body to hers, the youth offers her a fruit with his left hand, and accepts the cup with his right. He wears a fur trimmed hat and a long green robe tied at the waist with a variegated sash. The young lady is clothed in a plain long purple dress, a chador that hangs behind her back, and a tiara adorned with a feather, an aigrette, and some pearls. The background consists of stylized plants and scroll clouds executed in gold.
Bibliography:
Grube, MMP_1962, p.137, no.121 (ill.).
Stchoukine, SA_1964, p.70.
Commentary:
The subject of embracing couples was a common theme in later Safavid painting. Although the painting is not signed as Grube and Stchoukine contend, the dated inscription is compatible with Moʿin’s handwriting -- leaving little doubt that the painting can be attributed to him. Of excellent quality compositionally, technically, and stylistically, it is quite in keeping with Moʿin’s other work. It is apparently a finished painting possibly executed for the couple portrayed, for use as an album page. For comparisons to the young lady see 1673.4 and 1674.3; for the youth compare 1676.6 and 1676.3.
Photo courtesy of the Walters Art Museum.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: November 8, 2018 | Originally published: November 8, 2018
Painting 1687.1
A Couple Embracing
Location: Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, no.W690.
Painting: (H x W) 19.5 x 10.5 cm. Page: 35.5 x 24 cm.
Signature: Unsigned but dated 1[0]98/1687.
Inscription
Bottom right, reads: betāriḵ-e panjom-e šahr-e šaʿbān al-moʿaẓem sana 1[0]98. Translation: “The fifth of the honored month of Šaʿbān in the year 1[0]98/16 June 1687.” The inscription is unsigned but in the handwriting of Moʿin.
Description:
An adolescent and a young lady are kneeling facing the left. The young lady, on the left, holds a flacon of wine in her left hand, and reaches back with her right hand to pass a cup to her companion. While pressing his body to hers, the youth offers her a fruit with his left hand, and accepts the cup with his right. He wears a fur trimmed hat and a long green robe tied at the waist with a variegated sash. The young lady is clothed in a plain long purple dress, a chador that hangs behind her back, and a tiara adorned with a feather, an aigrette, and some pearls. The background consists of stylized plants and scroll clouds executed in gold.
Bibliography:
Grube, MMP_1962, p.137, no.121 (ill.).
Stchoukine, SA_1964, p.70.
Commentary:
The subject of embracing couples was a common theme in later Safavid painting. Although the painting is not signed as Grube and Stchoukine contend, the dated inscription is compatible with Moʿin’s handwriting -- leaving little doubt that the painting can be attributed to him. Of excellent quality compositionally, technically, and stylistically, it is quite in keeping with Moʿin’s other work. It is apparently a finished painting possibly executed for the couple portrayed, for use as an album page. For comparisons to the young lady see 1673.4 and 1674.3; for the youth compare 1676.6 and 1676.3.
Photo courtesy of the Walters Art Museum.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: November 8, 2018 | Originally published: November 8, 2018
