Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi: folio from Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (1340-1341)

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA)

A watercolor made by the Iranian artist Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi (active 1340s). This page comes from an illustrated manuscript called "Mu' nis al-ahrar fi daqa' iq al-ash'ar ("The Free Men's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems"). The manuscript is an anthology of Persian poetry by the poet and scribe Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi. This page shows illustrations of a poem about the moon as it enters the houses of all twelve zodiac signs. The Moon (the woman who holds a crescent around her head) is shown here visiting Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. Each picture is accompanied by small verses from the poem in which is explained the most appropriate things to do when the Moon is in conjunction with each of the twelve signs of the zodiac. For example: "When the Moon is in Aquarius, if you have money / Buy furnishings and goods and Indian slaves. / To see agents and sheikhs is good. / There is a ban on bleeding, hunting, marriage, and travel." Watercolor from 1340-1341.