Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads

Attributed to Sahkulu

Date: mid-1500s
Medium: Ink, gum tempera, and gold on paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 17.3 x 40.2 cm (6 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.)
Country / context: Turkey
Movement / tradition: Middle Eastern and North African arts
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Pathway: Middle Eastern and North African arts ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

A dragon lunges toward a pearl in the form of a seal inscribed with a verse from the Koran: “And I commit my case unto God” (40:44). In his front claw, the dragon grasps two flowering branches that magically produce a variety of blooms, including a lion that bites the dragon’s neck and a phoenix, who competes for the pearl. Sahkulu was trained by Persian artists, as were many artists of Mughal India during the 1500s. He joined the Ottoman imperial painting atelier in Istanbul in 1526 and became the head in 1545.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

A MOMENT TO LOOK

Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?

Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.

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