WINE DRINKING IN A SPRING GARDEN, YOUTH OFFERING A CUP OF WINE TO A MAIDEN
Persian miniature, ca. 1430
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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'Imitate the tulip (1) which flowers at Nowruz (2);
take, too, cup in your hand and, should the time come, drink – joyfully drink winer,
in the company of a young beauty with cheeks the colour of this flower,
for that blue wheel (3), like a breath of wind, may knock you down (4).'
Omar Khayyâm, Les Rubaiyat (quatrain 40)
(1) Comparison of the cup and the tulip, which is shaped like a chalice. This image is favoured by almost all oriental poets.
(2) Persian New Year, which starts at the Equinox on 21st March.
(3) The Heavens, which decide the fate of humans.e ciel, dont dépend le sort des humains.
(4) Meaning: your death knell could sound at any moment.
The youth offering a cup of wine to a maiden reflects a Persian courtly ideal expressed in poetry as well as painting. But it was common practice for Timurid artists to turn to Chinese models for pictorial inspiration. In this case, Chinese influence can be seen in the arrangement of figures on a horizontal groundline set against a neutral, undefined background; in the identity and sinuous style of the flowering prunus tree that braces the princess (Source : The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
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