Abu'l Qasim Firdausi | "The Combat of Khusrau Parviz and Bahram Chubina (?)", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)

Title: "The Combat of Khusrau Parviz and Bahram Chubina (?)", 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 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)
Painting:
H. 1 15/16 in. (5 cm)
W. 4 5/16 in. (10.9 cm)

Classification: Codices

Credit Line: Bequest of Monroe C. Gutman, 1974

Object Number: 1974.290.42

The Combat of Khusrau Parviz and Bahram Chubina

To gain the throne of Iran, Bahram Chubina went forth to fight Khusrau Parviz, son of Hurmuzd, and his Ruman army provided by Caesar, against the advice of wise men. This was but the first of a series of encounters between the two, and only after many adventures did the son and heir of the shah finally gain his throne.

Too little text remained with this picture when it was cut out and pasted onto another area of text to be sure of the subject. The ground is blue with gold-dot clusters but has been repainted. Two figures gallop toward each other, their horses head to head. The arms of the man on the left are in the position of loosing an arrow from a bow but no weapons remain visible, and the one on the right seems to have been struck by something. A dust cloud appears behind the figures. What with the overpainting and the general nature of the picture it is of no use to make comparisons with other manuscripts.

Mary Lukens Swietochowsky in [Swietochowsky and Carboni 1994]

　

Ph. Walter Schulz, Leipzig (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. 48.

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. 48, pp. 79, 127, ill. p. 127 (b/w).