Shahnama of Firdausi
The Shahnama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Firdausi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 “distichs” or couplets, it is the world’s longest epic poem written by a single poet.
From Gallery Text :
The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp
The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524–76), also known as the Shahnama-yi Shahi, is arguably the most luxuriously illustrated copy of Firdausi’s epic ever produced in the history of Persian painting
This project was realized at the royal atelier in Tabriz, the first capital of the Safavid dynasty, and involved two generations of the most renowned artists of the time. Among them were Sultan Muhammad, Mir Musavvir, and Aqa Mirak, who succeeded each other as directors of the project through the years. Scholars still disagree about the actual dates of execution of the manuscript. It was begun around the early 1520s, probably under Shah Isma‘il (r. 1501–24), the founder of the dynasty, and carried out for at least another twenty years under Shah Tahmasp, the manuscript’s dedicatee and principal sponsor.
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shnm/hd_shnm.htm
From Gallery Text :
The Feast of Sada”, Folio 22v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp,
Abu’l Qasim Firdausi
In the reign of Hushang, grandson of Gayumars, the world came to understand the usefulness of minerals and the arts of smithery, agriculture, and irrigation. One day, Hushang spied a dragon lurking behind the rocks. He hurled a stone at it, which missed the monster but hit a larger rock, causing sparks to fly. Realizing the significance of this phenomenon, Hushang built a large fire and held a feast to celebrate its discovery. The witty yet benevolent depictions of people and animals characterize the liveliest of Sultan Muhammad’s creations. Also typical of his style is the oval composition with mountains rising into the margins of the page.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452111
Gallery Text :
Rustam’s Fourth Course, He Cleaves a Witch”, Folio 120v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp,
Abu’l Qasim Firdausi
The hero Rustam underwent seven tests of valor on his way to rescue Shah Kai Kavus. The artist has illustrated the climax of Rustam’s fourth course when the beautiful maiden who had beguiled him turned back into the witch she really was, to be dispatched by his sword. The sorcerer in the background, raising his hands in horror, has been borrowed from Turkmen artistic sources, while the profile of the sorceress is an exaggerated version of the conventional one for the old retainer or crone. Note the faces of animals and humans incorporated in the rocks, a favorite element of the early paintings of Tahmasp’s Shahnama.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452126
Some more folio
“Bahram Gur Pins the Coupling Onagers”, Folio 568r from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
“The Angel Surush Rescues Khusrau Parviz from a Cul-de-sac”, Folio 708v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
Author: Abu’l Qasim Firdausi (935–1020)
Artist: Painting attributed to Muzaffar ‘Ali (active late 1520s–70s; d. ca. 1576)
