Sacred Script Exhibit: Qur’anic Manuscripts from the 8th to 16th centuries in the Minassian Collection
Case #7 | The Qur’anic fragment recontextualized and repurposed
The majority of manuscripts represented by this collection were created for use in mosques, madrasas (Islamic schools) or the homes of those able to afford these costly works. However, after centuries of use the manuscripts deteriorated and became unbound. Loose folios, especially those with popular verses, were then sometimes incorporated into decorative pieces that might offer spiritual blessing (baraka) to their owners. The folios here are both excellent examples of this sort of intervention, where at times a collage is formed through the incorporation of separate pages of non-contiguous verses, or sometime even sheets from separate manuscripts. These folios were then often matted or framed, and additional illumination or decoration was added, such as the gilding of the text on the right. Many other loose pages would later find their way to art markets throughout the Muslim World, Europe and the United States to become part of private and institutional collections.
Qur’an, Surat Muhammad [47] …16-23…; Qur’an, Surat al-Fath [48] …12-17… and …25-27, ink on parchment with latter frame and matting, 8-10th c.
Qur’an, Surat al-Tawba [9] 84-86, ink on paper with gilded illumination
Minassian Collection, A98-3 Box 1: Folders 67 ; Box 2: 143