# Text Page, Persian Prose (recto); The Story of Adam peace upon him, his Sons and Progeny (verso)

**Unknown artist**  
c. 1425  
ink and opaque watercolor on paper  
Overall: 42 x 32 cm (16 9/16 x 12 5/8 in.); Text area: 34.5 x 22.7 cm (13 9/16 x 8 15/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945.384. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1945.384).

## About this work

These two pages are from a manuscript that evidently was written and illustrated for the library (at Herat) of the Timurid king Shah Rukh, the son of Timur (Tamerlane). The Majma' al-Tawarikh traced the history of the world, beginning with the prophets of the Old Testament until the reign of Shah Rukh.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

An unrecorded Afghanistan, Herat, Timurid period (1370–1501) artist painted this in about 1425. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Opaque watercolour.** Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- **Ink on paper.** Ink made from soot and animal glue, ground with water on an inkstone. A single brush can give a hair-fine line or a broad wash, and nothing can be corrected.

## Facts

- Type: Manuscript
- Culture: Afghanistan, Herat, Timurid period (1370–1501)
- Real size: about 17 × 13 in (42 × 32 cm). The 12 × 16 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 15th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/570.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/570/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/text-page-persian-prose-recto-the-story-of-adam-peace-upon-h-cma-124423).