Minneapolis Institute of Art

Story of Haftvad

Persia (Iran); or Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Date: c. 1300
Medium: Ink and color on paper
Department: Asian Art
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Art

A group of women spin cotton outside the village of Kerman. The setting, with gold sky and fantastical landscape, shows the influence of Chinese painting, brought to Persia with Mongolian rule. This scene, identified in the text at the top of the page, foreshadows the story of Haftvad, a modest man whose daughter, seen at the far right, discovers a worm while biting into an apple. Considering it a lucky charm, she keeps the worm in her spindle case and soon begins spinning miraculous quantities of cotton. Recognizing this good fortune, Haftvad takes the worm and nurtures it until it grows to the size of an elephant. As the worm grows, so does Haftvad’s wealth and power. Eventually, King Ardeshir grows envious and comes to Kerman, where he defeats Haftvad and kills the worm. Iran, Iraq, Asia

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