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Original fileKneeling Angel in a Floral Landscape
Persian angel 1555
About This Work
The angel is depicted in profile, kneeling on both knees, with their head tilted slightly downward. They wear a dark, patterned robe decorated with gold star-like floral motifs and a white sash tied in a large knot at the waist. Large, vibrant red wings curve upward and around the figure, accented with white trim. The background is a dense field of intricate, multi-colored floral patterns including orange and blue blossoms on scrolling gold stems. The entire composition is contained within a rectangular frame featuring blue and gold geometric borders.
This miniature represents the highly stylized aesthetic of the 16th-century Bukharan school, which often integrated complex floral ornamentation with celestial figures. It reflects the broader tradition of Persianate manuscript illumination where angelic beings, or 'firishta', act as mediators in a highly decorative, paradisiacal space.
Inscriptions(Persian)
ایزد که کلک قبضه قدرت بدست اوست داد است ترا دو چون توکان هر دو دوست هم سیرت نکوه دوپت داری کَس را هم صورت که پس تر او دارد دوست
Translation
God, in whose hand is the pen of the hilt of power, has given you two, as you are the friend of both. You have both the good nature of two-fold [virtue] for people, And the form which He loves behind it.
Connected Texts
Qur'an
Connects to the Islamic theological tradition of angels as divine beings residing in and presiding over celestial domains.