Rustam Slays Suhrab (text recto; painting verso of folio 107), Illustrated folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi
17th-18th century
Description
This manuscript is the first volume of a two-volume Shahnama by Firdawsi with further Shahnama inspired interpolated texts from the Garshaspnama and the Barzunama. The manuscript has 325 folios and is copied in nastaliq script. There are two illuminated panels at the beginning of the prose and poetry sections of the Shahnama. There are 34 illustrations that appear to have been painted when the manuscript was copied and 26 simple style illustrations that can be dated to a later phase. Overall, based on the style of the illustrations, illumination, and the interpolated texts, the creation of the manuscript can be attributed to the late 17th-early 18th century in Kashmir, the northern region of India under Mughal control. Later in the 19th century, the incomplete manuscript was furnished with simple style illustrations and possibly with a new illuminated panel at the beginning of the text.
Dimensions
36.8 x 23.5 cm (14 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.)
Provenance
George McFadden, New York, (by 1987-1988), sold; to José M.Soriano, New York, (1988-2014), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2014.
Related Artworks
View MoreInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th centuryPersianDouble-sided, detached leaf from an incomplete manuscript: ink, color, and gold on blue paper
18th centuryNepaleseInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th centuryPersianInk and gold on paper
16th-17th centuryPersianFolding book; gold pigment on indigo-blue-dyed paper
17th centuryJapaneseOpaque watercolor and ink on paper
ArmenianTwo-sided horizontal accordion-fold manuscript; ink and color on paper
19th centuryThaiInk and gold on paper
12th centuryIslamicAccordion-fold book; ink and color on paper with gold and silver
17th-18th centuryJapaneseInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th centuryPersian