ManuscriptsPersian16th century

The Burial of Yazdigird (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi

1562

Description

In Firdawsi’s epic, Yazdigird III (d. 651) was assassinated in a mill by order of Mahuy, the treacherous governor of Merv. Two religious ascetics discovered the king’s body, stripped and thrown in a stream. Their fellow monks retrieved it, respectfully anointed it with wine, musk, camphor, and rosewater, clothed it in linen and gold brocade, and placed it in a lofty tomb. The painting shows a priest blessing the open grave as Yazdigird’s coffin is carried into the mausoleum, followed by a crowd of mourners. The casket, with Yazdigird’s crown at the head, is wrapped in textile strips. In design and decoration, the tomb reflects sixteenth-century Central Asian and Iranian architectural interiors.

Classification

Manuscripts

Medium

Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Culture

Persian

Period

Safavid period

Century

16th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

37 x 23.9 cm (14 9/16 x 9 7/16 in.)

Provenance

[Christies, London, 17 October 1995, lot no. 79]. [Mansour Gallery, London, before 1998], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1998-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.