Manuscripts






Works in this room
Every one of the collection's manuscripts, in today's hang.
Section 1, north wall

"Tahmuras Defeats the Divs", Folio 23v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah TahmaspAbu'l Qasim Firdausi, ca. 1525Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
"A King Offers to Make Amends to a Bereaved Mother", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau DihlaviAmir Khusrau Dihlavi, 1597–98Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Jesus writes on the ground (folio 130 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome XavierUnrecorded Indian maker, 1602–4Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Section 1, south wall

"Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation", Folio from a Majma' al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories)Hafiz-i Abru, ca. 1425Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
"The Elephant Clock", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-JazariFarrukh ibn `Abd al-Latif, dated 715 AH/1315 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Text Page, Persian Prose (recto); The Story of Adam peace upon him, his Sons and Progeny (verso)Unrecorded Persian maker, c. 1425Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Section 2, south wall

Leaf from a Book of Hours: The Nativity (recto) and Text (verso)Unrecorded French maker, c. 1430Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
"Zahhak is Told His Fate", Folio 29v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah TahmaspAbu'l Qasim Firdausi, ca. 1524Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
"Isfandiyar's Third Course: He Slays a Dragon", Folio 434v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah TahmaspAbu'l Qasim Firdausi, ca. 1530Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 2, north wall

Christ in Majesty with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist: Single Leaf from a Book of RulesMaster of the Washington Coronation, c. 1310–20Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
"Portrait of Maharaja Bhim Kanwar", Folio from the Shah Jahan AlbumNanha, verso: ca. 1615–29; recto: ca. 1540Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Folio from a Qur'an ManuscriptAhmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri, dated 707 AH/1307–8 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, north wall

Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of JajarmiMuhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, dated 741 AH/1340–41 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
"The Angel Gabriel meets 'Amr ibn Zaid (the Shepherd)", Folio from a Siyer-i Nebi (the Life of the Prophet)Mustafa ibn Vali, ca. 1595Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, south wall

"Dancing Dervishes", Folio from a Divan of HafizHafiz, ca. 1480Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
"Preparing Medicine from Honey", from a Dispersed Manuscript of an Arabic Translation of De Materia Medica of Dioscorides'Abdullah ibn al-Fadl, dated 621 AH/1224 CECourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art