Isfandiyar's 4th Course from the Shahnama in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2019

Title: "Isfandiyar's Fourth Course: He Slays a Sorceress", Folio 435v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp

Author: Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)

Artist: Painting attributed to Qasim ibn 'Ali (Iranian, active ca. 1525–60)

Workshop director: Aqa Mirak (Iranian, active ca. 1525–1576 Qazvin)

Date: ca. 1525–30

Geography: Made in Iran, Tabriz

Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper

Dimensions: Painting:
H. 7 3/16 in. (18.3 cm)
W. 7 1/16 in. (18 cm)
Page:
H. 18 11/16 in. (47.5 cm)
W. 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm)
Mat:
H. 22 in. (55.9 cm)
W. 16 in. (40.6 cm)

Classification: Codices

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur A. Houghton Jr., 1970

Accession Number: 1970.301.52


The hero Isfandiyar performs a series of feats, or "courses," parallel to those of Rustam. In this scene, Isfandiyar has slain a sorceress, who lies bleeding in the foreground next to a mountain stream whose once-silver water has tarnished to black. The squat figures reflect Qasim ibn 'Ali’s grounding in Turkmen painting, while the dramatically piled rocks and clouds are elements that were shared by painters of both Turkmen Tabriz and Timurid Herat background.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452161