Shahnama Project : Shahnama

Firdausi

Shahnama Project

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Many of the photos of the paintings in the ms. are those taken (with permission) by Bernard O'Kane, and these are currently being replaced; hence the variation is colour quality and size. The description of the ms. is also mainly taken from his recent study, supplemented by a brief inspection by Ch.M. in February 2008.</p><p>The binding is modern, of black leather with a handsome star-spangled design in gold. The original margins have been lost, due to repairs. The ms. begins with the Old Preface, ff. 1-3, which includes two images, the first at least apparently of Firdausi and the poets of Ghazna. The calligrapher was also responsible for an Anthology in Topkapi Saray H. 1510, dated 776 or 786 A.H., where he gives his name as al-Tabrizi, known as Kamal al-Jalali.</p><p>The ratio of paintings in the first and later historical sections is 5:1, with the latter restricted to a series of enthronements. The ms. also contains a painting illustrating the Faramarznama (f. 74v). Overall, the iconography has a distinct bias towards the glorification of Iranian rulers, perhaps giving a clue to the circumstances of its production, completed in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the Muzaffarid dynasty in southern Iran at the hands of Timur.</p><p>On exhibition in the Museum of Islamic Arts, Cairo, during February 2007 (open at ff. 107v-108r).</p><p>The colophon is reproduced in O'Kane, fig. 1. For Muzaffarid painting (of which this MS is one rare example), see also Elaine Wright, The Look of the Book (Freer Gallery, 2012), e.g. pp. 164-65.</p></p>