Folio from a Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020); recto: Iskandar encounters the Angel Israfel; verso: text: Iskandar crosses the Land of Darkness, removes the ruby; Iskandar constructs a wall to defeat Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; recto: illustration and text, Iskandar encounters the Angel Israfel; verso: text, Iskandar crosses the Land of Darkness, removes the ruby; Iskandar constructs a wall to defeat Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog), four columns, twenty-five lines.
Border: The text and the painting are set in gold, blue, and red rulings on cream-colored paper.

View right to left

Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Muhammad al-Qiwam al-Katib al-Shirazi (ca. 1537-1585)
Historical period(s)
1562-1583
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 45.2 x 30.2 cm (17 13/16 x 11 7/8 in)
Geography
Probably Turkey
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.256
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript, Painting
Type

Detached manuscript folio

Keywords
Alexander, angel, Elias, Henri Vever collection, Iran, Israfel, Khizr, Shahnama, Turkey, Water of Life
Provenance

Léonce Rosenberg (1879-1947), Paris [1]

To 1942
Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, to 1942 [2]

From 1942 to 1986
Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France [3]

From 1986
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France [4]

Notes:

[1] See Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 407.

[2] See Glenn D. Lowry et al., An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 110, no. 118.

[3] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

[4] See note 3.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Henri Vever 1854-1942
Léonce Rosenberg 1879-1947
Francois Mautin 1907-2003

Description

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: illustration and text, Iskandar encounters the Angel Israfel; verso: text, Iskandar crosses the Land of Darkness, removes the ruby; Iskandar constructs a wall to defeat Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog), four columns, twenty-five lines.
Border: The text and the painting are set in gold, blue, and red rulings on cream-colored paper.

Published References
  • Romance and Reason: Islamic Transformations of the Classical Past. Exh. cat. New York. Cover, p. 58, fig. 3-7.
  • Wilhelm von Bode, Ernst Kuhnel. Vorderasiatische Knüfteppiche aus älterer Zeit. Monographien des Kunstgewerbes Leipzig. pl. 97.
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 118, p. 110.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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