Moʿin Moṣavver | Individual Drawings and Paintings

Drawing 1692.1


A Lion Attacking a Dragon that has Wrapped Itself Around a Ram


Location: Los Angeles County Museum, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, M.73.5.12. Gift of Joan Palevsky.
Drawing with color washes: (H x W) 12.75 x 20.25 cm
Signature: Unsigned but dated 1103/1692.


Inscription
In the top left corner, reads: dar šab-e haftom-e šahr-e rajab al-morajab sana 1103 mašqa. Translation: “Drawn on the evening preceding the seventh of the revered month of Rajab in the year 1103/25 March 1692“. The inscription is unsigned but appears to be in Moʿin’s handwriting.

Description:
The drawing is executed with undulating, flamboyant line work. On the right side is a ram, its head at the bottom and feet above, that has been ensnared in the coils of a dragon. A lion, whose body stretches across the page, has in turn attacked the dragon from the left, sinking its teeth into one of the coils. In retaliation, the dragon is lunging at the foreleg of the lion. A rocky landscape setting is only lightly suggested, and off to the left the head and shoulders of a bearded, elderly man can be seen observing the event from behind a crest.

Bibliography:
Binney, Heeramaneck_1973, pp.140-41, no.254.
Lentz, Asia_1987, p.85, no.18.
Taylor, Isfahan_1995,
pl. 6.

Commentary:
The drawing is a tour de force of line and implied action, detailed and specific in some places, broad and suggestive in others. The entanglement of bodies creates a marvellous confusion which is heightened by the flamboyant linework that swells and undulates. Although the inscription is unsigned, it does appear to be in Moʿin’s handwriting -- note the form of mašqa with the same word on 1688.1. The animals - the lion and the dragon - common frequenters of Moʿin’s art, are stylistically quite comparable with his other representations. For lions cf. 1672.2, 1676.1, 1677.1; for dragons see 1676.4, ms.D f25v, ms.G f347 and f354. Lastly, the observing figure in the corner is a device employed by the master (cf. 1678.1), while the features of the man himself resemble those in other Moʿin images (cf., 1645.1, 1676.5, and 1685.1).

Photo courtesy of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky. Copyright © Los Angeles County Museum of Art..

Robert Eng

Last Updated: November 15, 2018 | Originally published: November 15, 2018