Love, sex, and God: hand-painted miniatures from the Romance of Yusuf and Zulaykha

[Miniatures - Yusuf and Zulaykha]. [Nine hand-painted miniatures illustrating the Yusuf and Zulaykha Romance].

€ 4.500,00

A lovely, unfolding manuscript of nine splendid miniatures, several of them erotic, telling the story of Yusuf and Zulaykha (Joseph and Potiphar's wife in the biblical tradition). All versions of the popular Yusuf and Zulaykha story are based on the thirty-second chapter of the Qur'an, and range from tales of the resistance of temptation to meditations on the mystical quality of divine love. The most widespread in West Asia and the Subcontinent, and likely the tradition from whence these miniatures come, was that of the famous poet and polymath Nur ad-Din Jami (1414-92 CE). Jami's "Yusuf va Zulaykha" is considered the finest example of the versified story in the history of the genre, and in many ways defined the tale. Jami made clear that his version was a mystical narration of the romance, and that his Zolayha is "an example of a person who has devoted her entire life to love in order to remove all existing veils so that she could bask in the Sun of the Truth" (Dadbeh).

Nonetheless, the two more overtly erotic illustrations included in this collection are, while certainly not unknown, not commonly depicted. See, for example, the miniature depicting the palace decorated with erotic images that Zulaykha has created to seduce Yusuf. This pictorial version stresses Yusuf's holiness (he is always dressed in gold, and his head framed with golden holy fire), but also the eroticism of his story: he is shown observing the erotic pictures, and apparently engaged in the act himself. The other seven miniatures are no less interesting, and show Yusuf being pulled from the famous well under a star-strewn night sky and a cast of characters moving about palaces and gardens as intrigues and betrayals unfold.