A recumbent winged allegorical figure holding a long quill, laurel wreath and an open manuscript, seated amongst clouds accompanied by winged putti School of Muhammad Zaman, Safavid Persia, late 17th Century

A recumbent winged allegorical figure holding a long quill, laurel wreath and an open manuscript, seated amongst clouds accompanied by winged putti
School of Muhammad Zaman, Safavid Persia, late 17th Century
Watercolour on paper, laid down on board, creased, small tears affecting areas of painted surface, Persian inscriptions and 19th Century seal impression in foreground and verso, attributing the work to Muhammad Zaman, in mount
drawing 185 x 250 mm.
The composition is very probably related to one by the Dutch printmaker Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617) or one of his followers.

Muhammad Zaman flourished between 1671 and 1700. According to Layla Diba 'he was probably the most prolific painter working in the Perso-European mode. He numbered Shah Sulayman among his principal patrons. It is known that he executed exquisitely finished copies of Netherlandish prints for royal albums during the late 1670s and 1680s.' Diba concludes that 'Zaman's mastery of European painting principles was unprecedented in Persian painting, indeed, the subsequent evolution of this type of painting in the 18th Century clearly showed an increasing standardisation and simplification of the components of his style.' See L. Diba and M. Ekhtiar (edd.), Royal Persian Paintings: the Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, Brooklyn Museum of Art 1998, pp. 116-118.