The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 23, 2026

Vertically oriented book page with 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 grey 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

attributed to Abd al-Vahhab

(Persian, active about 1516)

attributed to Mir Musavvir

(Iranian, c. 1510–1555)
Iran, Tabriz, Safavid period (1501-1722)
Gum tempera, ink, gold, and silver on paper
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.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1988.96.a
Location: Not on view

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.
  • 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, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1988–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Arthur Amory Houghton Jr. was an American industrialist who served as the president of Steuben Glass Works, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Philharmonic.
  • Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Reproduced: pp. 166-167
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 229–230
  • Indian Painting of the 1500s: Continuities and Transformations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    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=Rustam's seventh course: He kills the White Div, folio 124 from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)|url=false|author=Abd al-Vahhab, Mir Musavvir|year=1522–37|access-date=23 February 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.96.a