Battle of Karbala
This monumental canvas depicts scenes from the Battle of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (the third Shi'i Imam and ‘Ali's son) and his family at the hands of the Sunni caliph Yazid in the Karbala desert in 680 A.D. Canvases like this example were used as backdrops for recitations of the story of Husayn's martyrdom. They were portable; the reciter or parda-dar would nail them to a wall of a building and point to the relevant scenes as he recited the story. The narrative unfolds from left to right. The reciter's expressive and performative telling of the story is meant to elicit an emotional response from the audience as they hear about the agonies suffered by Husayn's followers in the scorching Karbala desert.
Artwork Details
- Title: Battle of Karbala
- Artist: Abdallah Musavvar (Iranian, died 1931)
- Date: late 19th–early 20th century
- Geography: Made in Iran
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: H. 69 1/2 in. (176.5 cm)
W. 116 in. (294.6 cm)
D. 2 in. (5.1 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, 2012, 2017, and 2018 NoRuz at The Met Benefits, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.73
- Curatorial Department: Islamic Art
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ca 1820
dated 608 AH/1211–12 CE
16th–17th century
9th century
9th century
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