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Youth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This single painting of a youth holding a favored pomegranate reflects the style of the most gifted painter at the court of Shah ‘Abbas, Riza-yi ‘Abbasi, whose work inspired numerous adaptations and copies by other artists. In this painting, the youth is attired less extravagantly—with less gold thread than those in the two paintings nearby—presumably conveying a lower status. Gold thread was so expensive that rulers occasionally burned old fabrics for the monetary value of the gold.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineYouth Holding a Pomegranate; Illustration from a Single Page Manuscript, c.1600–1650. Style of Riza-yi Abbasi (Iranian). Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; image: 15.3 x 8 cm (6 x 3 1/8 in.); overall: 27.7 x 16.4 cm (10 7/8 x 6 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1947.497
