Unknown
Meeting of Piran Viseh and Goudarz, Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)circa 1475-1500

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Illuminated Persian manuscript page with nastaliq script in six columns above a painted scene of four mounted riders in robes on horseback, with flowering plants and cloud-filled sky

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Meeting of Piran Viseh and Goudarz, Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Place Made: Northern India (?)
Date Made: circa 1475-1500
Medium: Opaque watercolor, gold, and black and red ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 4 3/4 x 7 1/8 in. (12.07 x 18.1 cm); Sheet: 12 x 9 1/4 in. (30.48 x 23.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Major and Mrs. C. C. Moseley
Accession Number: 57.17.3
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The Shahnama (Book of Kings), the Iranian national epic, was composed by Firdawsi and completed around 1010. It chronicles in verse the legendary and historical kings and heroes of the Persian Empire up to the Arab Muslim conquest in the seventh century. Illustrated manuscripts of the great poem were widely circulated as well as produced throughout the Persian-literate world, including South Asia, where it was admired at the Muslim courts for its grandeur and association with Persian kingship traditions. Indian copies of the Shahnama first appeared in the fourteenth century, increasing in production during the fifteenth century. It is generally accepted that Shiraz was one of the key regions from which artists and manuscripts were exported to South Asia.

This folio is one of four in LACMA’s collection from the same dispersed manuscript of the Shahnama (see also 57.17.4, .7, .10). It depicts one of the text’s finest stories, Davāzdah Rukh (The Twelve Worriers), celebrated for its compelling plot, dramatic descriptions, and insight into human nature. It recounts a series of single combats between Iranian and Turanian heroes along their shared border. Led by Goudarz, the Iranian heroes consistently triumph over their Turanian counterparts, commanded by Piran Viseh. The generic scene of mounted warriors shown here is closely allied to the Shiraz style of painting with its high horizon, scalloped cloud bands, and mountainous landscape with clusters of flowering plants. However, the row of helmeted heads observing in the foreground and the use of bright orange pigment belie an Iranian provenance.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Painting, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993.

Unknown
Meeting of Piran Viseh and Goudarz, Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)circa 1475-1500

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Meeting of Piran Viseh and Goudarz, Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Place Made: Northern India (?)
Date Made: circa 1475-1500
Medium: Opaque watercolor, gold, and black and red ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 4 3/4 x 7 1/8 in. (12.07 x 18.1 cm); Sheet: 12 x 9 1/4 in. (30.48 x 23.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Major and Mrs. C. C. Moseley
Accession Number: 57.17.3
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The Shahnama (Book of Kings), the Iranian national epic, was composed by Firdawsi and completed around 1010. It chronicles in verse the legendary and historical kings and heroes of the Persian Empire up to the Arab Muslim conquest in the seventh century. Illustrated manuscripts of the great poem were widely circulated as well as produced throughout the Persian-literate world, including South Asia, where it was admired at the Muslim courts for its grandeur and association with Persian kingship traditions. Indian copies of the Shahnama first appeared in the fourteenth century, increasing in production during the fifteenth century. It is generally accepted that Shiraz was one of the key regions from which artists and manuscripts were exported to South Asia.

This folio is one of four in LACMA’s collection from the same dispersed manuscript of the Shahnama (see also 57.17.4, .7, .10). It depicts one of the text’s finest stories, Davāzdah Rukh (The Twelve Worriers), celebrated for its compelling plot, dramatic descriptions, and insight into human nature. It recounts a series of single combats between Iranian and Turanian heroes along their shared border. Led by Goudarz, the Iranian heroes consistently triumph over their Turanian counterparts, commanded by Piran Viseh. The generic scene of mounted warriors shown here is closely allied to the Shiraz style of painting with its high horizon, scalloped cloud bands, and mountainous landscape with clusters of flowering plants. However, the row of helmeted heads observing in the foreground and the use of bright orange pigment belie an Iranian provenance.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Painting, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993.