Rustam Fighting against Pilsom, from the SHAHNAMA of Firdausi
Artist/Culture
Indian
Artist
Sultanate
Date14th Century
MediumOpaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions30.8 x 21.4 cm
ClassificationsNon-Western Miniatures
Credit LineJerome Wheelock Fund
Object number1935.30
Label TextA detached page from a manuscript of the great Persian epic of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdausi, on which the miniature depicts one of the battles between Iran, represented by the hero Rustam, and the Turanian king Afrasiyab. Pilsam, the rash brother of Afrasiyab's military commander, Piran, twice comes to blows with Rustam, and in the latter contest, he is slain.
One of the few pages of this manuscript that retains its original text, the image is at odds with the text of the episode, which describes Rustam spearing Pilsam. This fact suggests the text may be from a different recension of the Shahnama than that usually used in Persia and supports its assignment to Sultanate India painting rather than to that of TImurid Persia. Although manuscripts, such as this one, share many conventions of contemporary Persian painting, numerous stylistic and iconographic features-the flatness of the compositions, the clouds drawn as white bar-like bands, and color chosen for dramatic impact rather than color relationships-suggest an Indian Sultanate attribution.ProvenanceH. Khan Monif, New York NYOn View
Not on view
