[Manuscript] This scene's flat colors, conventional figures, and straightforward composition are typical of paintings associated with the 16-century Uzbek court at Bukhara, Iran. Court artists imitated many themes and compositions developed during the 15th-century Timurid dynasty. To lend legitimacy to their rule, Uzbek rulers had adopted aspects of Timurid culture and art.

The manuscript page is part of the Vever Collection. Henri Vever was a celebrated jeweler in turn-of-the-century Paris and became one of the foremost European collectors of Islamic art. The works he collected now form the Vever Collection in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler.

An Old Woman and Two Sages in a Garden, manuscript page, Iran (Bukhara), 16th century A.D., opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

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