Persian Couplets (recto); Sleeping Youth (verso) late 1500s-early 1600s Part of a set. See all set records style of Riza-yi Abbasi (Iranian) Iran. Isfahan, Safavid Period, late 16th - early 17th Century Ink, gold and opaque watercolor on paper Image: 21 x 12.4 cm (8 1/4 x 4 7/8 in.); Overall: 31.6 x 20.4 cm (12 7/16 x 8 1/16 in.); Text area: 21 x 12.4 cm (8 1/4 x 4 7/8 in.) Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1944.494 DESCRIPTION Under Shah Abbas, the tradition in which painting was employed to illustrate a literary work was all but abandoned. In its place came a new concern with single-page illustrations, such as this one, which have no specific content or meaning. They often illustrate albums of collections of verses about love and beauty, in which these themes often appear to serve as allegories of things divine. INSCRIPTION script: Nasta'liq CITATIONS Islamic Art: Selected Examples from the Loan Exhibition of Islamic Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944. Reproduced: p. [frontispiece] archive.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 730 archive.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 223 archive.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 223 archive.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 281 archive.org. EXHIBITION HISTORY Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 116): November 14 2012 - December 9, 2013. Main gallery rotation (gallery 116): December 16, 2015 - December 19, 2016 (1944.494.b). Islamic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1944-February 2, 1945). For Modern America from the Ancient Near East. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-March 21, 1948). The World of Miniature Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 20-November 10, 1953).