The Court of the Prophet Sulayman

Upon a raised throne is seated Sulayman — his head encircled by a flaming halo, the nur, a sign of the prophetic gift and of a special protection from on high. At the back of the throne, nearer the left shoulder, a hoopoe has come to rest: not a guide of the spiritual path, as it is with wandering Sufis, but that very messenger of Quranic tradition which flew to the Queen of Sheba with tidings of the true faith. On the left, at the prophet's feet, sages and viziers have gathered — among them Asaf, his faithful support in the affairs of rule. Three winged envoys serve the king: one offers fruit on a golden dish, another stands at a distance, a third carefully holds a peacock. Beside them are subdued divs, many-coloured and horned: one of them, in the very corner of the garden, meekly digs the earth with a spade — the force of destruction turned to creation. At their feet a lion and a doe, a hare and a white cat dwell peaceably side by side — the enmity of nature retreats where justice reigns. On high, in the ultramarine sky amid stylized clouds, soars a fiery Simurgh with a rainbow tail, while among the crags on the right rests a golden dragon — even they acknowledge this order. The master painted this boundless garden for eighteen months, and in every detail is the thought of a power that does not oppress the world but brings it to concord. About the work The subject of Sulayman's court is one of the most enduring subjects of Islamic book art, especially beloved of the masters of Maverannahr and Iran in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the image of the prophet-ruler, whose wisdom subdues not only men but jinn, beasts and the elements, goes back to the Quranic narrative and to the vast legendary tradition bound up with it. The composition is held within the canons of the courtly book miniature of that time — with the dense patterning of the garden, the stylized abr clouds and the golden field of the hashiya, where the boundless natural world continues the theme of the leaf. Such scenes often adorned copies of poetic compendia and anthologies, underscoring the idea of ideal rule as a reflection of the heavenly order upon earth. The miniature was executed by the contemporary master Davlat Toshev, whose work is closely bound to the Sufi tradition of Maverannahr. Details Base: Natural handmade Bukhara silk paper (90% silk, 10% cotton) Technique: Tempera, watercolour, natural plant and mineral pigments, gold leaf (23 carat) Unique piece