This art piece removes the separation of words and illustration entirely to demonstrate a genre all its own: visual poetry. The accordion-fold book replicates the completed glasswork. Twenty-two visual poems contributed by 15 national and international artists are etched into a 20-foot-long glass wall of the library, which is located in the historically African-American Rondo neighborhood that was all but destroyed in the late 1950s during construction of the I-94 Highway. Rondo: Miscellany of Visual Poetry was originally realized as a site-specific public art installation commissioned by the Rondo Community Outreach Library in St. Letterpress on Somerset paper print edition. Rondo: Miscellany of Visual Poetry by Harriet Bart Collaborator: Mnemonic Press, Minneapolis Collaborator: Hermetic Press, Minneapolis, 2006. The artist who executed it, Mahmud al-Muzahhib, signed the composition Mahmud “the gilder.” The rich colors and firm draftsmanship are characteristic of the Bukhara school. The double-page illustration presents the encounter of Alexander the Great and a philosopher who delivers advice to rulers, a theme that is the principal concern of this section of the text. They demonstrate a highly developed sense of design and an extraordinary virtuosity in the application of colors and gold leaf. The opening pages are typical of the ornate chapter headings, embellished script, and marginal decorations that frequently graced the Qur’an, as well as literary classics. This complete and finely calligraphed, illuminated, and illustrated copy of the Baharistan, or Spring Garden, by the Persian poet Jami, was produced in 1551 for Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, khan of Bukhara.

The Katherine Kitteredge McMillan Memorial Fund. Tooled and gilded leather, ink, colors, and gold on paper. Manuscript of the Baharistan (Spring Garden) by Mir Husain al-Husaini and Mahmud al-Muzahhib (painter), 1551.

Another word for painting a picture