The long wars between Iran and Turan end with the defeat and capture of the Turanian king, Afrasiyab, and his execution by Kai Khusrau, the Iranian shah, who thus avenged the murder of his father, Siyavush. The unusual and rather awkward position of the prisoner is echoed in an illustration of the same scene in an album in Berlin confirming the existence of an active workshop in Isfahan that developed its distinctive style.
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Title:"Kai Khusrau Slays Afrasiyab", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Author:Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
Date:ca. 1330–40
Geography:Attributed to Iran, probably Isfahan
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper
Dimensions:Page: H. 8 1/16 in. (20.5 cm) W. 5 3/16 in. (13.2 cm) Painting: H. 1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm) W. 4 5/16 in. (10.9 cm)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Bequest of Monroe C. Gutman, 1974
Object Number:1974.290.21
Kai Khusrau Slays Afrasiyab
Finally the long wars between Turan and Iran came to an end, with Afrasiyab defeated and Kai Khusrau triumphant. The Turanian king and his brother Garsivaz were captured and executed and the murder of Siyavush avenged. The epic relates that Kai Khusrau drew his sword and smote Afrasiyab upon the neck. In the illustration Afrasiyab is seated on the ground with one leg under him and one extended, his arms are bound, and he wears the usual undergarment of prisoners. Kai Khusrau stands before Afrasiyab holding him by the hair while a warrior with a long sword stands behind him.
In the First Small Shahnama the same scene is treated very differently (see MMA no. 34.24.5). Kai Khusrau is enthroned and holds a long sword. Before him stand Afrasiyab, clothed, and Garsivaz, in prisoners' underdrawers, both bound. The executioner of Garsivaz is placed behind him with a drawn sword. Kai Khavus, Kai Khusrau's grandfather, is seated beside the shah. This presents a much more detailed version of the events than the Gutman miniature.
In the 1333 Inju'id manuscript in St. Petersburg Kai Khusrau dominates the center of the composition. He holds his sword above his head with both hands as the elderly Afrasiyab, blindfolded and bent over, faces his brother, Garsivaz, in the left margin. Both brothers have their arms bound and they wear prisoners' underdrawers. There are two standing figures and a mounted one at the right, the last possibly Kai Kavus.[1]
In the Inju'id Shahnama of 1341, the blindfolded Afrasiyab is kneeling on the ground, Kai Khusrau is behind him with raised sword, and an attendant is holding him by the hair. Garsivaz stands before Afrasiyab; both have their arms bound and are dressed in prisoners' underwear. Kai Khavus is mounted, and along with an attendant, is at the right.[2]
The illustration most closely resembling the Gutman miniature, as mentioned in the introductary essay (p. 73 in this volume), is the one in the Diez Album in Berlin, which, although it has been cropped at both sides, shows Afrasiyab in an identical pose. It is closer to the epic text than the Gutman painting, however, depicting Kai Khusrau wielding the sword himself.
Mary Lukens Swietochowski in [Swietochowski and Carboni 1994]
Notes:
1. A. T. Adamova and L. T. Giuzal'ian, Miniatiury rukopisi poemy "Shakhname" 1333 goda. St. Petersburg, 1985, no. 33.
2. E. J. Grube, Muslim Miniature Paintings from the XIII to the XIX Century. Venice and New York, 1962, no. 25, ill. (Walters Art Gallery, no. W 677b)
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. 27.
Schulz, Ph. Walter. Die Persisch-Islamische Miniaturmalerei. Vol. vols. I, II. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1914. vol. 1, pp. 74–75.
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. 27, pp. 72–73, 79, 103–4, ill. p. 103 (b/w).
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
last quarter 15th century
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