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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2011.535
People
Attributed to Aqa Riza (Riza ‘Abbasi), Persian (c. 1560-70 - 1635)
Title
Seated Sufi
Other Titles
Alternate Title: A Dervish (Seated Old man with a Beard)
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1595
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Qazvin
Period
Safavid period
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/217260

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink on off-white paper
Dimensions
32 x 20 cm (12 5/8 x 7 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Stuart Cary Welch, Jr., Warner, New Hampshire (by April 1, 1969-2008), by inheritance; to Edith I. Welch, Warner, New Hampshire (2008-2011), gift; to Harvard Art Museums 2011.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Gift of Edith I. Welch in memory of Stuart Cary Welch
Accession Year
2011
Object Number
2011.535
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
With a remarkable economy of means, this drawing presents a bearded man in an apparent state of meditation, seated before the tools of a scribe. His tall, bell-shaped cap suggests an affiliation with a Sufi or dervish order. Flowing lines of varying thicknesses define the mass of his body, while minute and delicate brush strokes suggest the textures of his beard, shaven head, and light shawl. Based on the exquisite calligraphic freedom of line coupled with a portrayal of a trance-like state, this drawing has been attributed to Aqa Riza (Riza Abbasi) by Stuart Cary Welch, and Sheila Canby.

Publication History

  • Annemarie Schimmel, Mystische Dimensionen des Islam, The University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC, 1985), p. 163, ill.
  • Dr. Sheila R. Canby, The Rebellious Reformer: The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan, Azimuth Editions Ltd. (London, England, 1996), Page 63 & 183/Figure 28
  • Stuart Cary Welch and Kim Masteller, From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from the Stuart Cary Welch Collection, exh. cat., Yale University Press (New Haven, 2004), pp. 60-61, no. 10
  • Farid al-Din Attar, Layli Anvar, and Michael Barry, Le Cantique des Oiseaux: illustré par la peinture en Islam d’orient, Diane de Selliers (Paris, 2012), ill. p. 398

Exhibition History

  • Indian and Persian Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/25/1987 - 06/21/1987
  • Divinely Inspired: Images of Mystics and Mendicants, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/16/1999 - 03/29/1999
  • From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from SCWelch, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 03/19/2005 - 06/02/2005

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu