CALLIGRAPHY BY QUTB AL-DIN IBN HASSAN AL-TUNI, QAZVIN OR MASHHAD, 1580

The Shahnama from which this painting comes was sold at Sotheby's 22 April 1980, lot 271. The colophon named the scribe as Qutb al-Din ibn Hassan al-Tuni and gave the date as 20 Shawwal 988 (22 November 1580). The catalogue notes that there were twenty-four miniatures in the manuscript at that time, attributed to four different artists, of whom the best, artist A, was responsible for the present painting and that of the following lot.

Two of the most impressive paintings from this manuscript, attributed to the same artist, were recently exhibited in Cambridge (Barbara Brend and Charles Melville, Epic of the Persian Kings, the Art of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, London and New York, 2010, nos.68 and 69, pp.172-175). These show painter A at his best, with a dynamism and exuberance that is as strong as in any Safavid painting. In the Cambridge paintings, and that offered here, the artist shows no respect for the margins, bursting out of them with abandon. The Sotheby's catalogue notes the strength of the rocks in painter A's works as being one of his striking features. This is clear here in the rocky outcrop that dominates of the background of the painting.

For a further discussion on this manuscript, please see the following lot.