Portrait of Sultan Husayn Mirza, folio from an album

Curator: Oh, my heart! It's positively spellbinding, this "Portrait of Sultan Husayn Mirza." Attributed to Bihzad, its delicate lines and the way the Sultan seems to almost float... Editor: The first thing that strikes me is the paper itself. Look at the ground—that patterned backdrop. It suggests this folio, from the Harvard Art Museums, was part of a larger book, perhaps disassembled and sold off piecemeal. Curator: Perhaps. Or maybe a conscious choice to place the Sultan in an otherworldly garden. I feel as though I could get lost in the details of his robe! The precision... Editor: Precision achieved through layers of pigment, ground minerals perhaps, painstakingly applied. It's labor, really, that elevates this beyond mere illustration. Someone spent days, weeks even, on this single page. Curator: It does feel like a labor of love, doesn't it? Almost devotional. You can sense the artist's admiration, or at least respect, for the Sultan. Editor: Or respect for the patron who commissioned it and the value they placed on such meticulous handiwork. The raw materials and craft are what bring it to life for me. Curator: For me, it’s the mystery. The unknown year, the touch of Bihzad... it all adds to the romance. Editor: Maybe it's the romance of the materials then. I like the way we can both look at the same image and take something very different away from it.