Artwork Page for Rustam's seventh course: He kills the White Div, folio 124 from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)

Details / Information for Rustam's seventh course: He kills the White Div, folio 124 from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)

Rustam's seventh course: He kills the White Div, folio 124 from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)

1522–37

attributed to Abd al-Vahhab

(Persian, active about 1516)

attributed to Mir Musavvir

(Iranian, c. 1510–1555)
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Culture
Iran, Tabriz, Safavid period (1501-1722)
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, gold, and silver on paper
Measurements
Sheet: 47.5 x 32.2 cm (18 11/16 x 12 11/16 in.); Image: 28.4 x 18.5 cm (11 3/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1988.96.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Devils in the details: three peer into the White Div’s lair by the Caspian Sea.

Description

The legendary hero Rustam brutally takes the demon chief’s liver blood, needed to cure his king of blindness. Paintings from the Shah-nama made for the Persian ruler Shah Tahmasp (reigned 1524–76) were acclaimed in their day for their brilliant coloring and refinement. Seven of the artists who contributed to this book moved to India to lead the new Mughal painting workshop in the 1550s. They introduced to the Indian artists a more complex color sensibility and preference for presenting faces in three-quarter view, as opposed to in profile.
A book page features columns of Persian text above and below a central painting depicting an armored man defeating a creature, surrounded by animal-like figures in colorful purple, medium-light blue, and peach foliage. In the black center, the warrior with light skin tone pushes the gray and white, furry beast down, one leg cut off and spurting blood. On our right another man with light skin tone looks on, a brown horse below.

Rustam's seventh course: He kills the White Div, folio 124 from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)

1522–37

Abd al-Vahhab, Mir Musavvir

(Persian, active about 1516), (Iranian, c. 1510–1555)
Iran, Tabriz, Safavid period (1501-1722)

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