Abu'l Qasim Firdausi | "Manuchihr Welcomes Sam but Orders War upon Mihrab", Folio 80v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp

Title: "Manuchihr Welcomes Sam but Orders War upon Mihrab", Folio 80v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp

Author: Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)

Artist: Painting attributed to 'Abd al-'Aziz (active first half 16th century)

Date: ca. 1525

Geography: Made in Iran, Tabriz

Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper

Dimensions: Painting:
H. 11 1/16 in. (28.1 cm)
W. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm)
Entire Page:
H. 18 9/16 in. (47.1 cm)
W. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm)

Classification: Codices

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur A. Houghton Jr., 1970

Accession Number: 1970.301.9

Shah Tahmasp, Iran (until 1568; gifted to Selim II); Sultan Selim II (Turkish), Istanbul (from 1568); Sultan Selim III, Istanbul (by 1800); Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (French), Paris (by 1903–d. 1934); his son, Baron Maurice de Rothschild, Paris and Geneva (1934–d. 1957); his son Baron Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, Paris and Geneva (1957–59); [ Stiebel Ltd., New York, until 1959; sold to Houghton]; Arthur A. Houghton Jr., New York (1959–70; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Bazm and Razm: Feast and Fight in Persian Art," February 17–May 31, 2015, no catalogue.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art," May 6, 2018–September 9, 2018, no. 8.

Mohl, Jules, ed. Le Livre des Rois. Vol. I. Paris, 1876. pp. 234–38.

Migeon, Gaston. "Exposition des Arts Musulmans au Musee des Arts Decoratifs." Les Arts no. 16 (1903).

Welch, Stuart Cary. A King's Book of Kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. p. 191.

Dickson, Martin, and Stuart Cary Welch. The Houghton Shahnameh. Vol. vols. I & II. Cambridge, Mass. and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1981. vol. II, ill. pl. 66 (b/w).

Komaroff Linda, ed. "The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art." In In the Fields of Empty Days. Los Angeles, CA, 2018. no. 8, pp. 13, 76, 108, ill. pl. 8 (color).

Canby, Sheila R. The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp : The Persian Book of Kings. Madrid, 2011. p. 86, ill. folio 80v (color).

Canby, Sheila R. The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp : The Persian Book of Kings. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. p. 128, ill. fol. 80v (color).

"Inscriptions on Architecture in Early Safavid Paintings of the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Journal vol. 53 (2018). p. 42, ill. fig. 16.

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