"Bahram Gur Slays the Rhino-Wolf", Folio 586r from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp

Author Abu'l Qasim Firdausi Iranian
 Painting attributed to 'Abd al-'Aziz
Workshop director Aqa Mirak Iranian

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 462

Shah Shangul asked Bahram to rid the world of a monstrous rhino‑wolf, which tore the hearts from lions and the skin from leopards. Bahram strung up his bow and sped toward the rhino‑wolf, pouring a mighty hail of arrows onto the beast. In this painting, the image of the rhino‑wolf breaks through the rulings of the painting into the margins, lending the composition dynamism and suggesting the extension of the setting beyond the confines of the page.

"Bahram Gur Slays the Rhino-Wolf", Folio 586r from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus), Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper

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