"The Combat of Rustam and Kafur", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)

The Combat of Rustam and Kafur

Rustam and his army came upon a fortified city ruled by a king called Kafur, who ate only the human flesh of growing youths. Rustam sent two of his warrior chiefs with an army against Kafur, but the special armor of Kafur's forces was impervious to arrows. The Iranian army fared so badly that Rustam was hastily called to the rescue. Kafur charged at Rustam, but the hero avoided both the enemy's sword and lasso. After emitting a war cry that struck amazement in Kafur, Rustam landed a blow with his maze that killed his opponent.

This somewhat random encounter is apparently illustrated so rarely it is not even listed in the Preliminary Index of Shanama Illustrations (J. Norgren and E. Davis, 1969). The illustrator here has mistakenly provided Kafur with a mace—an ox-headed one at that, against which Rustam defends himself with a shield, as described in the epic—and Rustam with a sword, instead of the other way around. Nevetheless, the scene is full of movement and action.

Mary Lukens Swietochowski in [Swietochowski and Carboni 1994]

Ph. Walter Schulz, Leipzig, Germany (by 1914); Professor O. Moll, Düsseldorf, Germany ; Monroe C. Gutman, New York (by 1929–d. 1974; bequeathed to MMA)

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images: Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s," February 1–May 1, 1994, no. 21.

Schulz, Ph. Walter. Die Persisch-Islamische Miniaturmalerei. Vol. vols. I, II. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1914. vol. 1, pp. 74–75, ill. vol. 2, pl. 15.

Masuya, Tomoko. "The Condition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Small Shahnama and the Reconstruction of its Text." In Poetry and Epic Images, edited by Marie Lukens Swietochowski, and Stefano Carboni. New York, 1994. pp. 129–45.

Swietochowski, Marie, Stefano Carboni, Tomoko Masuya, and Alexander H. Morton. Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images : Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 21, pp. 12, 72–73, 79, 96–98, ill. p. 97 (b/w), cover (color).