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Image

RISDM 17-497.tif
  • RISDM 17-497.tif

Unknown Maker, Persian

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife Zulayka

Description

Maker

Unknown Maker, Persian

Culture

Persian

Title

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife Zulayka

Year

early 1500s

Medium

  • ink,
  • watercolor,
  • and gold on paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • ink,
  • watercolor,
  • and gold on paper

Materials

gold, ink, watercolor

Supports

  • paper mounted as an album page

Geography

Origin: Iran; Origin: Central Asia

Dimensions

18.7 x 10.8 cm (7 3/8 x 4 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed number in ink on label adhered verso, top right: 378

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

17.497

Type

  • Paintings

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Text, Paratext, and Images
Sep 01, 2020 – Jul 24, 2021

Label copy

These two works show the circulation of text through storytelling, and they present narrating, reading, and writing as signifiers of social status.

At the top of the Persian painting at left, a storyteller captivates his audience with a tale that unfolds in the scene below. The story of the attempted seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife is found in the Qur’an, the Hebrew Torah, and many Muslim storybooks from the 1500s.

In the Japanese print at right, made in the 1800s, a woman dressed in the elaborate garments of an aristocrat from the 1300s sits at a desk with writing utensils, surrounded by books. Besides highlighting the importance of reading and writing, this anachronism signifies the high regard for classical poetry in Edo-era Japanese society.

[see also 56.039.34]

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Persian
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife Zulayka, early 1500s
Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper
18.7 x 10.8 cm (7 3/8 x 4 1/4 inches)
Museum Appropriation Fund 17.497

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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