2002.50.159: Piran Attacks the Iranians at Night (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi
ManuscriptsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2002.50.159
- Title
- Piran Attacks the Iranians at Night (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi
- Classification
- Manuscripts
- Work Type
- manuscript folio
- Date
- 1562
- Places
- Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Shiraz
- Period
- Safavid period
- Culture
- Persian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/146521
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- 37 x 24 cm (14 9/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- [Christies, London, 17 October 1995, lot no. 79]. [Mansour Gallery, London, before 1998],sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1998-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
- Accession Year
- 2002
- Object Number
- 2002.50.159
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
- Following successful attacks on Turan by the Iranians, Afrasiyab appointed Piran to lead the Turanian army and defeat the invaders. Learning that the Iranians had let down their guard and were carousing drunkenly, Piran rallied thirty thousand soldiers and attacked their encampment in the hours of darkness, soundly defeating them. Although this painting shows the attack, its scenes of slaughter are subordinated to the beauty of the floral landscape and embellished tents and the rhythmic placement of the figures with their swinging scimitars. Sharing the restraint and delicacy of many Safavid paintings, it does not fully convey the bloody tumult and chaos that Firdawsi describes.
Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
84 A–B
Double page: Piran Attacks the Iranians at Night
A. Verso: text and illustration
Folio: 37 × 24 cm (14 9/16 × 9 7/16 in.)
2002.50.159
B. Recto: text, with title “Letter of Kay Khusraw to Fariburz”
Folio: 37 × 24 cm (14 9/16 × 9 7/16 in.)
2002.50.160
Following successful attacks on Turan by the Iranians, Afrasiyab appointed Piran to lead the Turanian army and defeat the invaders. Learning that the Iranians had let down their guard and were carousing drunkenly, Piran rallied thirty thousand soldiers and attacked their encampment in the hours of darkness, soundly defeating them. Although this painting shows the attack, its scenes of slaughter are subordinated to the beauty of the floral landscape and embellished tents and the rhythmic placement of the figures with their swinging scimitars. Sharing the restraint and delicacy of many Safavid paintings, it does not fully convey the bloody tumult and chaos that Firdawsi describes.
Mika M. Natif
Publication History
- Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013)
Exhibition History
- Closely Focused, Intensely Felt: Selections from the Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/07/2004 - 01/02/2005
- In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2013 - 06/01/2013
Related Objects
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu