Isfandiyar slays Arjasp, the king of Turan, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020) (1600–1605): Art, History and Details

Isfandiyar slays Arjasp, the king of Turan, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020) (1600–1605) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Haidar Kashmiri (Indian, active late 1500s-early 1600s).

The work and its context

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

This illustrated scene occurs early in the narrative of Isfandiyar, who is destined to serve as king of Iran with Rustam as his champion. The episode describes Isfandiyar’s quest for vengeance against the tyrant Arjasp of Turan, who had defeated his father in battle and taken his sisters captive. Isfandiyar disguised himself as a merchant, entered Arjasp’s fort, and then fought his way to the enemy king, whom he defeated in battle. The artist has included beautiful and delicate details of the garden and architectural setting of this gruesome scene. An onlooker below puts his finger to his mouth in a gesture of astonishment.

Object facts

• Title: Isfandiyar slays Arjasp, the king of Turan, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020)
• Date: 1600–1605
• Creator attribution: Haidar Kashmiri (Indian, active late 1500s-early 1600s)
• Culture: Mughal India
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 36.7 x 24.4 cm (14 7/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art - Mughal
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2013.314

A detail from the museum

Wine spilling from a porcelain bottle heightens the action of the moment.

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

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016.

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.