Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari - A Water Clock, 1354

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This is a leaf from an Arabic-language manuscript that describes different ingenious inventions. Four lines of Arabic text are at the top of the page. The bottom two thirds of the leaf is taken up by a brightly colored illustration. This is enclosed on three sides by a thin red line and at the top by a green band with sequential black circles. Inside the square, at the top, is a gold crenelated parapet with a red-robed haloed figure standing on the left side. A red and blue clock face with a falcon is in the center and below him a large gold cup. At the very bottom of the page, seven musicians are featured in a row. The musicians are drawn with expressive faces. All the musicians wear bright patterned robes--blue, deep pink, red, and green--and wear various colored boots. The central musician, the largest, is seated cross-legged on the floor, playing a set of round-bottomed drums, beating them with cane-like sticks. The other musicians are standing three on each side of the seated central figure. The musicians on either side of him are also drummers. On the far right are two cymbalists with cymbals clanged. On the far left are two trumpeters with long trumpets held high. 

Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (Northern Mesopotamia, 1136 - 1206, Northern Mesopotamia)

Leaf from a copy of the Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices: A Water Clock, 1354

Gold and colors on paper, 39 x 27 cm (15 3/8 x 10 5/8 in.)

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Commentary

Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.