A STANDING PORTRAIT OF THE SUFI MYSTIC SHAMS AL-DIN TABRIZI (1185 – 1248)
Hyderabad, Deccan, Central India, ca. 1780 – 1800

Opaque pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, the vertical-format portrait depicting the beloved spiritual instructor of Mewlana Rumi, the Sufi mystic Shams al-Din Tabrizi with a large golden flaming halo, standing on a palatial terrace in front of a charbagh (quadripartite) garden with a central fountain, wearing a green overcoat over a white jama outfit, the two colours combined symbolising purity and religious devotion in the Islamic tradition, holding a spear with a fish at the top and three more fish in the latter hand, the composition charged with allegorical emblems of spirituality and reference to the holiness of the sitter, an inscription in white ink Persian nasta'liq script at the top identifying the subject, set within black and yellow rules, mounted, glazed, and framed, the folio 22.6cm x 14.4cm, 38.3cm x 29.1cm including the frame.