This monumental Safavid copy of the celebrated Shahnama epic is bound in a gleaming gilded-leather bookbinding adorned with a paintinglike landscape containing animal and birds. The figural decoration extends into the cartouches surrounding the central scene, which enclose leonine masks and flying waterbirds. The weight of the many pages within the binding has worn down the surface decoration of the main panel, but the envelope flap on the right clearly depicts wild boar, deer, cranes, fish, and a variety of foliage.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Binding, front
Binding, back
Folio 15v
Folio 168r
Folio 220r
Folio 106r
Folio 116r
Folio 145r
Folio 208r
Folio 250v
Folio 578a: The Death of Alexander
Folio 306r
Folio 351r
Folio 375r
Folio 571r
Folio 32v
Folio 52r
Folio 283r
Folio 284r
Folio 320r
Folio 419v
Folio 449r
Folio 486r
Folio 502v
Folio 512r
Folio 538r
Folio 550r
Folio 4v
Inner binding, front
Inner binding, back
Folio 69v
Folio 80r
Folio 579r
Folio 1v
Folio 22v
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi
Author:Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
Date:1475–1675
Geography:Attributed to Iran, Tabriz
Medium:Leather; tooled and gilded; ink on paper
Dimensions:H. 18 3/8 in. (46.7 cm) W. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913
Object Number:13.228.14
Alexander Smith Cochran, Yonkers, NY (until 1913; gifted to MMA)
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Exhibition of Islamic Art," February 24, 1937–March 22, 1937, no. 7.
New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Perfect Page: The Art of Embellishment in Islamic Book Design," May 17–August 18, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Nature of Islamic Ornament, Part IV: Figural Representation," September 16, 1999–January 30, 2000, no catalogue.
Paris. Institut du Monde Arabe. "The Golden Age of Islamic Sciences," October 25, 2005–March 19, 2006, no. 61.
New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Making of a Collection," October 24, 2011–February 26, 2012, no catalogue.
Princeton. Princeton University Art Museum. "Princeton's Great Persian Book of Kings: Myths, Legends and History," October 5, 2015–January 24, 2016, not in catalogue.
Jackson, A. V. Williams, and A. Yohannan. Catalogue of the Collection of Persian Manuscripts, Including also some Turkish and Arabic, Presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by Alexander Smith Cochran. Columbia University Indo Iranian Series, vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1912. no. 5, pp. 38–44.
Valentiner, William Reinhold. "The Cochran Collection of Persian Manuscripts." Museum of Metropolitan Art Bulletin, old series, vol. 8 (1913). pp. 80–86.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. p. 75, ill. fig. 33 (b/w).
Aga-Oglu, Mehmet. "M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, February 24 to March 22, 1937." In Exhibition of Islamic Art. San Francisco, 1937. no. 7, p. 24, ill. pl. 7 (b/w), cover and flap of binding.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 84, ill. fig. 50 (b/w).
Ruhrdanz, Karin. "About a Group of Truncated Shahnamas: A Case Study in the Commercial Production of Illustrated Manuscripts in the Second Part of the Sixteenth Century." Muqarnas vol. 14 (1997). p. 128, ill. fig. 14 (b/w), fol. 502b: The Wounded Faramurz Captured by Bahman.
Savage-Smith, Emilie, ed. Magic and Divination in Early Islam. The Formation of the Classical Islamic World, vol. 42. Aldershot, Hants, Great Britain; Burlington, VT, USA: Ashgate, 2004.
L'Age d'Or des Sciences Arabes. Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe, 2005. no. 61, p. 125, ill. fig. 61 (color), folio 578a, The Death of Alexandre.
Simpson, Marianna. "The Peck Shahnama." In Princeton's Great Persian Book of Kings. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2015. p. 13.
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
last quarter 15th century
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Islamic art is one of the most comprehensive in the world and ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions from Spain to Indonesia.
