cma-islamic-art: Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads, Sahkulu, mid 1500s, Cleveland Museum
cma-islamic-art: Dragon in foliage with lion and phoenix heads, Sahkulu, mid 1500s, Cleveland Museum of Art: Islamic ArtIn this masterful drawing, a fierce undulating dragon entangled in swirling foliage is under attack from a lion above while assaulting a phoenix whose body dissolves into floral and foliate forms. The lion’s body undergoes a comparable zoomorphic transformation. This drawing represents the finest of the saz style, admired for elaborately curving flowers and leaves that flourished in the mid-1500s. The style was led by the Iranian-trained artist, Sahkulu, who joined the Ottoman imperial painting atelier in Istanbul in 1526 and became the head of the atelier in 1545. A verse from the Koran, 40:44, is inscribed in the stamp: “And I commit my case unto God.”Size: Sheet: 17.3 x 40.2 cm (6 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.)Medium: ink, gold, opaque watercolors on paperhttps://clevelandart.org/art/1944.492 -- source link