Abu'l Qasim Firdausi | "The Coronation of the Infant Shapur II", Folio 538r from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp

Title: "The Coronation of the Infant Shapur II", Folio 538r 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 Muzaffar 'Ali (Iranian, active late 1520s–70s; died ca. 1576)

Date: ca. 1525–30

Geography: Made in Iran, Tabriz

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

Dimensions: Painting:
H. 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)
W. 8 11/16 in. (22.1 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: 1970.301.59

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 Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A King's Book of Kings: Persian Miniatures from Shah Tahmasp's Shahnama of 1528," May 4–December 31, 1972, no catalog.

Mohl, Jules, ed. Le Livre des Rois. Vol. I. Paris, 1876. pp. 339–42.

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. 196.

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. 221 (b/w).

Canby, Sheila R. The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp : The Persian Book of Kings. Madrid, 2011. p. 241, ill. (color).

Canby, Sheila R. The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp : The Persian Book of Kings. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. pp. 283, 50, ill. fol. 538r, full-page color ill. p. 283, detail p. 50.

"Inscriptions on Architecture in Early Safavid Paintings of the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Journal vol. 53 (2018). p. 38, ill. fig. 14 (color).

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