Artwork story
About A Stallion
The artist and artwork
Habiballah of Sava painted A Stallion around 1601–6 in ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Active around 1590–1610, he worked in the Persian painting tradition; this sheet is associated with Herat, in present-day Afghanistan. A single richly caparisoned horse stands in profile, making its small head, arched neck, long legs, saddle, bridle, and patterned cloth the complete subject. The Met identifies it as a royal horse of Arabian stock and an accomplished example of a subject shared across Iranian, Turkish, and Indian art.
The world around it
The painting belongs to the reign of the Safavid ruler Shah ‘Abbas I. In 1597–98, shortly before this sheet was made, he moved Iran's capital to Isfahan and began transforming it with a new royal square and major buildings. His reign supported painting and book production while single-page pictures became increasingly important beside manuscript illustration. Trade in silk and other luxury textiles connected Safavid workshops to wider markets. That courtly world helps explain the sheet's refinement without proving who commissioned it or where the horse stood.
A detail to notice
In Persian court imagery, horsemanship could signify a prince's authority, but here no rider is needed. Habiballah concentrates on the animal and a saddlecloth covered with curling blossoms and fantastically stretched, serrated leaves. The Met identifies this ornament as saz, a Persian word meaning “fashioning,” popular in sixteenth-century Iran and Turkey. Gold fittings and patterned textiles turn equipment into a second drawing, while the pale blue-gray horse remains spare and alert. One foreleg advances and the ears point forward: controlled stillness becomes royal power.
Look closer: materials, scale, and subjects
The recorded object is illustrated album leaf made in Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper and held in the Islamic Art department.
Recorded dimensions include Painting:; H. 11 7/8 in. (30.1 cm); W. 8 in. (20.3 cm); Page:; H. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm); W. 5 in. (12.7 cm).
Subject terms include Horses. Treat them as guideposts, not a complete interpretation.
Collection history and public-domain source
The collection credit line is Purchase, Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art, The Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection, Edward J. Gallagher Jr. Bequest, and Richard S. Perkins and Margaret Mushekian Gifts, 1992.
The individual artwork page and official image were verified as Public Domain on 2026-08-23.
No Context Gallery independently uses the public-domain image. The source museum has not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated itself with these products.
Research sources
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