Page from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Page from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)

Mir MusavvirLinkedCulture matchlcp-812d408ab5a8

Date
1520–37
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, gold, and silver on paper
Culture
Iran, Tabriz, Safavid period (1501-1722)
Department
Islamic Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
154290

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Begun at the end of the reign of Shah Ismail (reigned 1501–24), first king of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, this copy of the Shah-nama (Book of Kings) was completed during the reign of his son Shah Tahmasp. Unparalleled in scope and refinement, the book included 259 paintings by master artists in the royal workshop. Two calligraphers copied the text in an elegant, flowing nasta‘liq script. In 1568, Shah Tahmasp gave this book as a gift to the Ottoman sultan Selim II of Turkey. The 50,000 rhyming couplets of the Shahnama tell the story of ancient kings of Iran.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Provenance
1520s–1567: Shah Tahmasp شاه تهماسب یکم‎ [1514–1576], Iran, given to Ottoman Sultan Selim II | 1567–?: Ottoman Sultan Selim II [1524–1574], Istanbul, Ottoman Empire | until early 1900s: Topkapı Palace library, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire | early 1900s–?: Baron Edmond de Rothschild [1845–1934], Boulogne-Billancourt, France | ?–October 14, 1988: Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. [1906–1990] | October 14, 1988: (Christie's, London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1988–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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