Shahnama Project : Shahnama

Firdausi

Shahnama Project

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>A heavily illustrated and interesting manuscript, not least for the unusual format of many of the paintings, with the text blocks sometimes dropping deep in the picture and angular shapes into the margins. Being so heavily illustrated, it is a fine example of the main scenes of the epic that attracted attention, together with some rarer scenes. The MS contains the whole sequence of the combats of the Davazdah rukh, as well as the Haft Khwan of Isfandiyar, and so on. The start of Bizhan and Manizha (here called the 'Bizhan-nama') is on f. 265r, and the episode includes the struggle with Barkhiyas Div.</p><p>The colophon contains no details of the date or place of production.</p><p>The identification of the verses on the pages is still be confirmed in some folios of the manuscript; the dimensions of the paintings are also incompletely recorded.</p><p>Link to the digitised manuscript: https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb00043870?page=,1</p></p>