تک‌برگی منتسب به شیخ محمد

A Bearded Man Leaning on a Crutch

This diminutive drawing depicts a bearded man who leans on a crutch, perhaps because of age or lameness. He has tucked a book into the chest of his caftan, which he holds with both hands. From his belted sash hangs a case and tassels. The drawing is mostly in black ink except for the headgear, crutch, and the sash, which are drawn in red ink. The boots are painted with an opaque red color and gold is applied in a small area on the head gear. The red color of his boots definitely draws attention and perhaps had a special meaning in the original context. The drawing has been attributed by S. C. Welch to Shaykh Muhammad, who had also worked on two important manuscripts produced for Shah Tahmasb. The drawing is too large to have been a preparatory sketch for a miniature painting, and perhaps demonstrates the transition to single figure drawings destined for albums.

mid 16th century

Drawings

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Gift of Edith I. Welch in memory of Stuart Cary Welch

2011.532

Artist: Attributed to Shaykh Muhammad, Persian

Black and red-brown inks, opaque watercolor and gold on off-white paper

10.3 x 9.5 cm (4 1/16 x 3 3/4 in.)

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

Harvard Art Museums