The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Vertically oriented opaque watercolor painting of Aulad, a man with light skin tone, sparse strands of hair on his head and jaw, and a grey mustache, wearing a red robe and tied to a tree. The tree stands in a orange-brown, rocky landscape that seems to sway right, a light brown horse drinking from dark grey water running along the lower edge. Blue sky and curling white clouds show through the trees' green leaves.

Aulad Tied to a Plane Tree, from a Shahnama by Firdausi

1575–1600

Sadiqi Bek

(Iranian, 1533–1609)
Iran, Qazvin or Isfahan?, Safavid period (1501–1722)
opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper
Sheet: 33.5 x 23.5 cm (13 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.); Image: 33.5 x 23.5 cm (13 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1988.101
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Rustam’s dappled horse named Raksh drinks water; it was originally silver, but has now oxidized to black.

Description

This large-scale illustration reflects a new aesthetic with simpler paintings of isolated figures which artists signed for less sophisticated patrons in the marketplace, replacing the previous idealized court style as a result of decreased support under Shah ‘Abbas (reigned 1587–1629). Instead, he improved the infrastructure to increase international trade and the country’s wealth.

The scene depicts Aulad, who guided the legendary hero Rustam through numerous ordeals. Since Aulad was not entirely trusted, Rustam often tied him to a tree, here a plane tree which shelters a pair of nesting birds. The painter, poet, and royal librarian Sadiqi Bek signed his name in tiny script on the brown rock below Aulad.
  • ?–1988
    (Dorothea H. Swope [b. 1944], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1988–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “The Year in Review for 1988.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 76, no. 2 (1989): 30–75. Mentioned: p. 73, no. 189; Reproduced: p. 56, no. 189 www.jstor.org
    Franklin, David. The Cleveland Museum of Art. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd., 2012. Reproduced: pp. 32–33
  • Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2013-December 15, 2014).
    The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).
  • {{cite web|title=Aulad Tied to a Plane Tree, from a Shahnama by Firdausi|url=false|author=Sadiqi Bek|year=1575–1600|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.101