Persian Qum Pictorial Rug – The Last Supper – Pure Silk

Rug #5118
Size: 210 x 135 cm / 6.9 x 4.4 ft
Handwoven in: 
Materials: 
Category:  
POA

Persian Qum Pictorial Rug – The Last Supper – Pure Silk

This Persian Qum rug is published in;

THE PERSIAN CARPET, ‘The Fabric of Life’, Essie Sakhai, Woodbridge, 2008.

pl. 198,  p. 252.

The subject matter of this rug, from c.1960, is fascinating,
especially given that the rug was woven in one of the holiest Muslim cities
in Iran. The main pictorial panel is a loosely based on Leonardo da Vinci’s
mural The Last Supper in Milan; pictorial cartouches above and below
depict Christ praying and the Virgin Mary with a book rocking the Christ
Child in a crib, both clearly based on European paintings. Indeed, the
European influence extends to the motif between these small octagonal
cartouches, a pair of scrolling acanthus leaves with a scroll beneath and
the bust of a very Persian-looking angel, or Peri, in the form of a herm.
Without wishing to enter too deeply into a religious discussion, it should
perhaps be remembered that the Prophet Muhammad Himself declared
Jews and Christians to be ‘People of the Book’ and thus to be honoured
by Muslims and that in the Masjid-i Nabi (the Prophet’s Mosque) in
Medina, one of the holiest sites in Islam, there is to be found the tomb of
Issau bin Mariam (Jesus the son of Mary), waiting empty until after the
Second Coming. So perhaps this rug being woven in Qum should not be
considered so surprising after all. Note that the rug has been woven on
the horizontal axis, with the wefts running from side to side. Signed by the
ustad Ahad Velayati.

Persian Qum pictorial rug depicting The Last Supper (after Michaelangelo) handwoven by a masterweaver from fine pure silk in Iran.

For further information please contact us and our team will be pleased to assist you. All pieces in the collection are under the auspices of Essie Sakhai, one of the world’s foremost experts and collectors of fine handmade Persian rugs and carpets.

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