Bijan killing the wild boars of Irman, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020) (c. 1610): Art, History and Details

Bijan killing the wild boars of Irman, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020) (c. 1610) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This illustrated page from a Shah-nama depicts the first adventure of the hero Bijan, son of an Iranian knight. When reports arrived at the king’s court of wild boars ravaging the borderlands between the enemy realms of Iran and Turan, Bijan volunteered to hunt and kill the beasts, much to the chagrin of his father, who doubted his young son’s ability to navigate the politically volatile situation. The fearless Bijan is shown on horseback as he singlehandedly strikes the bodies of the boars in the brush. After overzealously celebrating his success, Bijan must be rescued from a pit by Rustam. This early manuscript from the Deccan made for the sultan of Bijapur is characterized by glowing colors and lavish use of gold.

Object facts

• Title: Bijan killing the wild boars of Irman, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)
• Date: c. 1610
• Culture: India, Bijapur, Deccan
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 20.3 x 12 cm (8 x 4 3/4 in.); Page: 20.5 x 12.4 cm (8 1/16 x 4 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2013.283

A detail from the museum

Trappings of Byzantine brocade were gifts to the hero who slays the wild boars.

Collection credit

Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.