SAFAVID KHORASSAN, POSSIBLY MASHHAD, NORTH EASTERN IRAN, CIRCA 1570-80

This playful painting depicts Shah Bahram Gur listening to the story told by the Chinese Princess, daughter of the Lord of the Sixth Clime. Like many of the depictions of similar scenes, we find our hero at leisure in the pavilion, attended by servants and surrounded by a plethora of luxurious objects denoting wealth. The composition is somewhat more simplified, but also abstract in its handling than other similar examples. The elongated standing figures combined with the bright and cheery palette, this work can be attributed to the Mashhad school.