Cleveland Museum of Art

Zulaykha in her palace and as an elderly woman with Joseph (recto), from a Panj Ganj (Five Treasures) of Abd al- Rahman Jami (Persian, 1414–1492)

Mushfiq

Date: 1603–7
Medium: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Culture: Western Afghanistan, Herat (text); Mughal India (paintings)
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

The golden pot of white narcissus flowers at the bottom center of the painting signals that Zulaykha, leaning on her staff to the left, will imminently have her youth and beauty restored. In this Persian retelling of the Old Testament account from the Bible, Zulaykha lusted after Joseph, even though she was already married to Potiphar. Joseph, with the golden halo, resisted her advances until she became a widow and retained his youth, because of his extreme virtue. Above, Zulaykha as a young woman waits for Joseph in her house where murals of them as a happy couple are painted on the walls. Zulaykha is shown four times: twice in the murals, seated in the center, and below when she is much older.

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Zulaykha in her palace and as an old woman with Joseph, from a Panj Ganj (Five Treasures) of Abd al-Rahman Jami (Persian, 1414–1492); verso from a Panj Ganj of Abd al-Rahman Jami (Persian, 1414–1492), with two masnavis: Yusuf va Zulaykha (Joseph and Zulaykha) and Khirad-nama-i Iskandari (Alexander’s Book of Wisdom)

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