SAFAVID IRAN, CIRCA 1600

Details

RUSTAM KICKING AWAY THE BOULDER PUSHED BY BAHMAN
SAFAVID IRAN, CIRCA 1600
An illustration from a Shahnama of Firdawsi, opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, set within gold and blue rules, the painting with 3ll. of nasta'liq above and 2ll. below against gold cloudbands and foliage, arranged in four columns, the reverse with 25ll., headings in white, set within gold rules against gold and black background, margins cut, framed
9 5⁄8 x 7 ¾in. (24.6 x 19.5cm.)

Provenance

Sotheby's Paris, 18 November 2013, lot 82

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Ordered by his father Isfandiyar to bring Rustam to him in chains, Bahman spies the great hero of the Iran from atop a mountain. Fearful of Rustam’s strength and wishing to avoid confronting him in direct combat, Bahman dislodges a boulder and hurls it down the mountainside at the unsuspecting hero. Despite the concerned shouts of his brothers, Rustam does not move from roasting his onager and instead sticks out a leg to calmly brush the oncoming missile aside. The painting clearly draws from the same scene in the famous Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp (ca. 1522-40), sold in these Rooms, 31 March 2022, lot 41. This painting can be attributed to the reign of Shah Abbas (1588-1629) based on the size of the characters and their turbans. A related, but slightly later painting of the scene is in a manuscript in the Freer Gallery of Art (F1907.279).

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