An illuminated Qur'an leaf in gold Kufic script on vellum, Near East, 10th century

text: Qur'an, surah al-mu'minun (XXIII), verse 30 to middle of verse 33

Arabic manuscript on vellum, 5 lines to the page written in gold Kufic script, letter pointing (i’jam) of thin brown dashes, vocalisation of red, green and blue dots, verses separated by gold rosette roundels, an illuminated marginal medallion marking 'ashr

14.8 x 20.4cm.

This leaf comes from an unusually luxurious manuscript of the Qur’an written entirely in gold. The technique of chrysography was a demanding process that required the calligrapher to first outline the letters in a fine brown ink, before infilling the pre-determined outline in gold as accurately as possible. The process was a lengthy and expensive one indicating a commission at the very highest level of patronage, hence the rarity of these luxury gold-script manuscripts.