Illustration from

Maqamat of al-Hariri

Bibliothèque nationale de France, manuscript Arabe 3929, 2nd quarter of 13th century

Folio 151 Recto: maqama 18: Slave of Abu Zayd


esclave d'Abû Zayd

The painting depicts a beautiful slave-girl holding a mirror, and standing beside a (relatively tiny) tree. She is almost double the height of other illustrated figures in the manuscript. Grabar describes the image as "a unique representation of that paragon of beauty [...] totally different from any other woman shown in the Maqamat" (Grabar 1984 p.58).



29. Elegant woman depicted in a 13th-century Maqāmāt manuscript. She is wearing a wide-sleeved brocade, knee-length robe with clearly inscribed ṭirāz armbands. On her head is a polka dot headscarf which falls down the back to her waist and is held in place with an ʿiṣāba māʾila and a pearl chin chain (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, ms arabe 3929, fol. 151).
Source: Fig. 29, Arab Dress. From the dawn of Islam to Modern times by Smirna Si

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Illustrations of Arab Costume and Soldiers