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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Ali and the Jinn
Egyptian
20th Century
Medium/Technique
Chromolithograph
Dimensions
Height x width: 42 × 57.2 cm (16 9/16 × 22 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Edwin E. Jack Fund
Accession Number2023.50
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, print houses emerged near major intellectual centers in Egypt, as well as near religious sites, like al-Azhar Mosque. Cairo has also long been home to burial sites of the Ahl al-Bayt, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ’s family, particularly by descent through his daughter Fatema and his cousin, the first Shia’ imam Ali bin Abu Talib, who is pictured here fighting a jinn, a creature made of fire. Ali’s son, Hussein, and his daughter, Zaynab, are buried not far from where this was likely printed. Pilgrims flocked to visit these sites both from Egypt and beyond. Maybe they bought prints too?
DescriptionImage of a man bearing a sword atop a red horse stabbing a jinn in the head. Labeled with black riqqa' script: Imam Ali's attack of a jinn.
ProvenanceAbout 1930s/1940s, probably acquired by the library of the Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles; 1990s, sold by the library of the Philosophical Research Society to Sam Fogg, Ltd., London; 2022, consigned by Sam Fogg to N.G. McBurney (bookseller), London; 2023, sold by N. G. McBurney to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 15, 2023)