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Apr 24, 2019

Jul 15, 2009

Apr 24, 2019

Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama

1330–35

Part of a set. See all set records

Iran, Tabriz, Ilkhanid period

(1256-1353)

Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Sheet: 45.8 x 34.4 cm (18 1/16 x 13 9/16 in.); Image: 19.5 x 29.5 cm (7 11/16 x 11 5/8 in.)

Grace Rainey Rogers Fund 1943.658.b

Location

not on view

Did you know?

The Shahnama is an epic poem that traces the fortunes of heroes and kings, of lovers and enemies.

Description

In this intense painting, Bahram Gur plunges his sword into the breast of a dragon. A favorite character from Iran's pre-Islamic history, Bahram Gur (reigned 420–38) was a popular ruler of the Sassanian dynasty and a great hunter. He took the name "Gur," meaning onager (a wild ass), because it was his preferred game, although he also excelled at killing dragons. As evidenced by this illustration's rock formations, tree trunk, and dragon, Iranian painting in the Mongol period borrowed numerous stylistic and spatial elements from Chinese models. With the surging landscape and writhing dragon rendered with equal energy, this is a picture of extraordinary unity and concentration.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Script: Naskh

Provenance

c. 1910–?

(Georges Demotte [1877–1923], New York, NY)

Wells

before 1943

Grace Rainey Rogers [1867–1943], New York, NY

?–1943

(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1943–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Exhibition of Persian Art (1931, London). Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art: 7th Jan. to 28th Feb., 1931. 1931.

Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. 257 and 160

Curatola, Giovanni, and Gianroberto Scarcia. Iran: l'arte persiana. Milano: Jaca Book, 2004. 198-199

Erdman, Kurt. "La Mostra d'arte Persiana a Londra." Dedalo XI (April 1931). 826

Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), Laurence Binyon, Basil Gray, and J. V. S. Wilkinson. Persian Miniature Painting. Including a Critical and Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March, 1931. By Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson and Basil Gray. London: Oxford University Press, 1933.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Dimand, Maurice Sven. A Guide to an Exhibition of Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination / by M. S. Dimand. New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1933. .

Lorey, E. de. ""L'Ecole de Tabriz." Revue des Arts Asiatiques I (1935).

Brian, Doris. "A Reconstruction of the Miniature Cycle of the Demotte Shahnama." Ars Islamica VI, pt. 2 (1939). 110

Schroeder, Eric. "Ahmed Musa and Shams al-Din: A Review of Fourteenth Century Painting." Ars Islamica VI, pt 2 (1939). 132-133

Iranian Institute of America (New York, N.Y.), and Phyllis Ackerman. Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art : ... New York, 1940. New York (N.Y.): > Iranian Institute, 1940. 246

Parke-Bernet Galleries. French XVIII Century Furniture, Paintings, Drawings, Etc., Collection of Grace Rainey Rogers 1943/11/18-20. [N.Y.]: [Parke-Bernet galleries, Inc., auctioneers], 1943. 140

Dimand, M.S. "An Exhibition of Islamic and Indian Paintings." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art XIV (Dec. 1955). 86

Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Roma). Mostra D'arte Iranica: Catalogo, Palazzo Brancaccio, Roma, Giugno-Agosto 1956 = Exhibition of Iranian Art : Catalogue, Palazzo Brancaccio, Roma, June-August 1956. Milano: Silvana editoriale d'arte, 1956.

University of Michigan. Persian Art Before and After the Mongol Conquest [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959, the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. 1959. .

Paris. Sept mille ans d'art en Iran: [exposition], Petit Palais, octobre 1961-janvier 1962. Paris: Petit Palais, 1962. 192

Rosenzweig, Daphne Lange. "Stalking the Persian Dragon: Chinese Prototypes for Miniature Representations." Kunst des Orients XII 1/2 (1978-1979). 151-176

Grabar, Oleg, and Sheila Blair. Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1980. 154-155

Williams, Marjorie. "Dragons, Porcelains and Demons: Cultural Exchange Between China and Persia." Orientations vol. 18 no. 8 (August 1986). 86

Lentz, Thomas W. Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century : [Exhibition, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 16.04.-06.07.1989 ... Etc.]. [S.l.]: [s.n.], 1989. 53

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 720 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 221 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 221 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 278 archive.org

Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni, eds. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press [distributor], 2002. Reproduced: cat no. 56, p. 257, fig. 187, p. 160

Curatola, Giovanni, and Gianroberto Scarcia. Iran: l'arte persiana. Milano: Jaca Book, 2004. Reproduced: fig.162, pp. 198-199

Hagedorn, Annette, and Norbert Wolf. Islamic Art. Hong Kong: Taschen, 2009. Reproduced: fig. 16, p. 18

Coffey, Heather. "Collapsing Geography and Orientalizing Pigment in a Fourteenth-Century Chromoshpere: Italian Painting and Ilkhanid Ceramics." In The Seas and the Mobility of Islamic Art. Radha Dalal, Sean E. Roberts, and Jochen A. Sokoly eds., 38-53. Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art and Culture, 2021. New Haven: Yale University Press; [Ar-Rayyan, Qatar]: in association with Qatar Foundation; [Richmond, Virginia]: Virginia Commonwealth University; [Education City, Doha, Qatar]: and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 47, fig. 2.5

Exhibition history

International Exhibition of Persian Art. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (January 7-February 28, 1931).

Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (October 9, 1933-January 7, 1934).

Persian Art. Iranian Institute, New York, NY (1940).

Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (December 15, 1955-February 19, 1956).

Exhibition of Persian Art. Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome, Italy (May-October 1956).

Islamic Art Exhibition. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (April 9-May 17, 1959).

7000 Ans d'art en Iran. Petit Palais, Paris, France (October-November 1961).

Muslim Miniature Paintings from American Collections. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy; Asia House, New York, NY (September 1962-February 1963).

Imperial Images in Persian Painting. The Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 13-September 11, 1977).

Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 116). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 30, 2018–January 4, 2019).

The Classical Style in Islamic Painting. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 1, 1968-January 4, 1969).

Persian Miniature Manuscripts. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 11, 1977).

The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 28, 2002-February 16, 2003); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (April 13-July 27, 2003).

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2013-December 15, 2014).

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{{cite web|title=Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1943.658.b|year=1330–35|access-date=08 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama

Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama

Iran, Tabriz, Ilkhanid period

Location

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