Miniature from a furusiyya manuscript. ‘A Mamluk Training with a Lance’
Egypt or Syria; c. 1500
Leaf: 24 × 16.7 cm
Inventory number 19/2001
The Mamluks were a dynasty of professional slave soldiers for whom the art of war was of the greatest importance. They cultivated a special type of writing, the furusiyya, which primarily dealt with the horse and its use in war, but also infantry drills with the sword, the lance, the bow, and Greek fire. Such writing was often based on earlier Abbasid treatises.
The Mamluk shown here training with his lance is wearing a characteristic violet fur hat (zamt), but otherwise the depiction has limited aesthetic ambitions. It is an illustration for a didactic work, nothing more.
The Mamluk shown here training with his lance is wearing a characteristic violet fur hat (zamt), but otherwise the depiction has limited aesthetic ambitions. It is an illustration for a didactic work, nothing more.
Published in
Published in
Sophie Makariou et al.: Memorias do Imperio Árabedo 13 de xullo ó 27 de setembro de 2000, Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela 2000, cat.141;
Kjeld von Folsach: For the Privileged Few. Islamic Miniature Painting from The David Collection, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk 2007, cat. 6;
Kjeld von Folsach and Joachim Meyer: The Human Figure in Islamic Art. Holy Men, Princes and Commoners, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2017, cat. 19;
Martine Acerra et al.: L'Âge classique, XVe-XIXe siècle. Vol. 2 of Mondes en guerre, Paris 2019. p. 485;
Kjeld von Folsach, Joachim Meyer and Peter Wandel: Fighting, Hunting, Impressing. Arms and Armour from the Islamic World 1500-1850, Davids Samling, Copenhagen 2021, cat. 2;
Doris Behrens-Abouseif: Dress and Dress Code in Medieval Cairo. A Mamluk Obsession, Leiden 2024, fig. 27, pp. 125-126;
Kjeld von Folsach and Joachim Meyer: The Human Figure in Islamic Art. Holy Men, Princes and Commoners, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2017, cat. 19;
Martine Acerra et al.: L'Âge classique, XVe-XIXe siècle. Vol. 2 of Mondes en guerre, Paris 2019. p. 485;
Kjeld von Folsach, Joachim Meyer and Peter Wandel: Fighting, Hunting, Impressing. Arms and Armour from the Islamic World 1500-1850, Davids Samling, Copenhagen 2021, cat. 2;
Doris Behrens-Abouseif: Dress and Dress Code in Medieval Cairo. A Mamluk Obsession, Leiden 2024, fig. 27, pp. 125-126;
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