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The Ambassadors of the Egyptian Sultan al-Nasir Faraj ibn Barquq Present their Gifts of Tribute, Including a Giraffe, to Timur (1370–1405)
The Ambassadors of the Egyptian Sultan al-Nasir Faraj ibn Barquq Present their Gifts of Tribute, Including a Giraffe, to Timur (1370–1405)
Public domain: Image courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum.

The Ambassadors of the Egyptian Sultan al-Nasir Faraj ibn Barquq Present their Gifts of Tribute, Including a Giraffe, to Timur (1370–1405)

Artist/Culture (Seljuk, 1000–1199)
Artist/Culture
Date1436
Mediumwatercolor, gold, and ink on paper
Dimensionsimage: 24.2 × 17.8 cm (9 1/2 × 7 in.)
sheet: 33.7 × 24.4 cm (13 1/4 × 9 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsNon-Western Miniatures
Credit LineJerome Wheelock Fund
Object number1935.26
DescriptionLeft half of a double page composition of the Zafarnama copied for Ibrahim-Sultan.

Label TextDouble-page composition from a manuscript of the Zafarnama of Sharaf al-Din ‘Ali YazdiShiraz, Iran, AH Dhu’l-Hijja 839/July 15–16, 1436 Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper This remarkable double-page composition, now divided between two collections, comes from a dispersed manuscript of the Zafarnama made for the Timurid prince Ibrahim Sultan. It recounts the exploits of his grandfather Timur (1370–1405), a central Asian warlord who carved out a vast empire from Baghdad to the Hindu Kush, with Samarqand as its capital. The event depicted here is not only related in the text it illustrates, but it is described in the more contemporaneous account of Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, an ambassador from the Castilian court, who was an eyewitness. According to Clavijo, Timur received the Egyptian embassy in early June 1404, in the city of Khoy (in northwestern Iran), where the Spanish ambassador had lately arrived. He noted that the Egyptian entourage brought presents from their sultan to Timur that included six ostriches and a giraffe. Although Clavijo elsewhere renders vivid and often awestruck accounts of the ceremonial at Timur’s court, it was clearly the giraffe that caught his attention here. Having never seen a giraffe before, Clavijo described it in great detail and concluded “this beast is indeed a wondrous sight to behold.” In the painting, this distinctive animal is led by its groom. ProvenanceDemotte, New York NY
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