Royal Reception in a Landscape, left folio from the double frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persi

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Royal Reception in a Landscape, left folio from the double frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persi as manuscript (Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501) · 1444).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

From the upper left two trained cheetahs, a falcon, and horses are led into the scene.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this manuscript as opaque watercolor, ink, gold and silver on paper.

The museum's collection notes: The painting on the recto of this folio is the second half of a double-page frontispiece now detached from a Shahnama manuscript (see CMA 1945.169 for the first half of the frontispiece). The scene does not illustrate a narrative from the Shahnama , but likely represents the courtly audience for whose entertainment the manuscript was created. The date and style of the painting indicate that it was made during the reign of the Timurid dynasty in Shiraz, Iran.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtRoyal Reception in a Landscape, left folio from the double frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persi

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