"Zal Consults the Magi", Folio 73v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
Author Abu'l Qasim Firdausi Iranian
Painting attributed to Sultan Muhammad Iranian
Workshop director Sultan Muhammad Iranian
In this painting, Zal is depicted enthroned as he consults his magi, or Zoroastrian wise men, on how to win his father’s approval to marry Rudaba, the granddaughter of the evil king Zahhak. The phoenix-like bird on the canopy may refer to the simurgh, which saved and nurtured the infant Zal, whose parents had rejected him for being an albino. The sinuous flowering trees often appear in Turkmen painting of Tabriz.
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