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The giantsfront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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The giants

  • Description

    These illustrated pages [EA1978.2573, EA1978.2576, EA1978.2577] originally belonged to three different manuscripts of The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence (Arabic: ‘Aja’ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara’ib al-mawjudat), a treatise on the marvels of the universe written by cosmographer and geographer Zakariya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (1203–1283).

    Widely copied and illustrated across the Islamic world, The Wonders of Creation consists of two main parts. The first part deals with the heavenly spheres, and discusses angels, constellations, planets, and different calendars. The second part, devoted to the earthly realm, describes the four elements, minerals, plants, living beings – including humans – spirits, and extraordinary creatures such as giants.

    The style of the first folio depicting the angel Ruh suggests that it was produced in western Iran during the second half of the 1500s. The second and third folio of constellations and giants belong to two separate, but closely related, manuscripts from a different painting tradition, and were possibly made in the Deccan (central India) at the end of the 1500s or early 1600s.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence
    Associated place
    Asia › India › Deccan (possible place of creation)
    Asia › Iran (possible place of creation)
    Date
    late 16th century - early 17th century
    Artist/maker
    Zakariya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (1203 - 1283) (author)
    Material and technique
    ink, colour, and gold on paper
    Dimensions
    mount 55.9 x 40.6 cm (height x width)
    page 30.5 x 17.5 cm (height x width)
    painting 29.2 x 16 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper,
    processed material › metal › gold
    Technique index
    decorated › painted,
    painted,
    covered › coated › painted,
    marked › painted
    Object type index
    communications equipment › manuscript,
    visual representation › calligraphy,
    visual representation › painting
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Gift of Gerald Reitlinger, 1978.
    Accession no.
    EA1978.2577

  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 18 July-13 September 1981, and London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981, Eastern Ceramics and Other Works of Art from the Collection of Gerald Reitlinger: Catalogue of the Memorial Exhibition, Deborah Willis, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum and London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981), no. 397 on p. 138, illus. p. 138

    Carboni, Stefano, ‘Constellations, Giants and Angels from al-Qazwini Manuscripts’, James Allan, ed., Islamic Art in the Ashmolean Museum, Part One, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art, 10 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), x.1, pp. 87-90, fig. 6 p. 89

Location

    • First floor | Room 31 | Islamic Middle East

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

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