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Shirin Questions about his Portrait of Khusraw, from Khamsa of Nizami
Shirin Questions about his Portrait of Khusraw, from Khamsa of Nizami
Public domain: Image courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum.

Shirin Questions about his Portrait of Khusraw, from Khamsa of Nizami

Artist/Culture (Seljuk, 1000–1199)
Date1550–1599
Mediumopaque watercolor on paper
Dimensionssheet: 33.6 × 21.1 cm (13 1/4 × 8 5/16 in.)
ClassificationsNon-Western Miniatures
Credit LineJerome Wheelock Fund
Object number1935.31
DescriptionSafavid Dynasty
Label TextPersian literature is rich in garden and flower imagery, as exemplified in the Khamsa, five poemsn by the Persian poet Nizami (d. about 1209). This painting illustrates a scene from one of the five poems, Khusraw and Shirin, which describes the romance of the Persian King Khusraw Parviz and the Armenian Princess Shirin. It depicts the moment when the princess, sitiing in the midst of a flower-filled landscape, sees the king's portrait and asks whothe painter who is portrayed.ProvenanceH. Khan Monif, New York NY
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