Piran Brought Before Rag Khusraw

This folio, arguably among the most precious pieces in the AMAM’s collection of Islamic art, depicts an episode from the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), the national epic of Persia. The text was composed by Abu’l Qasim Ferdowsi (AD ca. 935-1020) in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries at the court of Mahmud of Ghazna, Turkish ruler of the northeastern province of the Muslim world.

The Shahnameh covers the history of Persia and its people from the creation of the world to the Arab conquest in the 7th century. Its length runs to nine volumes, including over 50,000 verses. Its literary content and vast temporal span covering many legendary and historical figures place the text among the masterpieces of world literature, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. With its emphasis on the concept of justice, the Shahnameh is an example of Muslim advice literature known as the “Mirror for Princes.”

This folio depicts the story of Piran, a nobleman of the region of Turan in Central Asia. In it the artist shows a keen interest in naturalistic representation as observed in the carefully modeled human and animal figures that are placed in a three-dimensional, receding space with naturalistic rock forms. The artist’s acute sense of light and shadow further enhances the psychological dimension of the painting as the two pairs of figures exchange words.