Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
115
Burzuy Brings Anushirvan the Book
Kalila and Dimna
Folio from a manuscript of the Shāhnāma by Firdawsi
Recto: text and illustration
Verso: text
Iran, Safavid period, late 16th–17th century
Black ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on off-white paper, with underdrawing in red ink
Folio: 37.2 × 22.7 cm (14 5/8 × 8 15/16 in.)
2002.50.5
The tale of how the collection of fables Kalila and Dimna was transmitted from India to Iran appears in the Shāhnāma in the section recounting the life and rule of Khusraw Anushirvan.[1] Given leave by the king, the learned physician Burzuy journeyed to India in search of the plant of eternal life. After arriving at the Indian court, however, Burzuy came to understand that it was not a magical plant but rather a book called Kalila and Dimna that contained the transformative wisdom he sought. Forbidden to take notes as he read, he memorized parts of the book by day and transcribed them secretly by night, sending his transcriptions back to Anushirvan. Upon his return to Iran, Burzuy was received with great honor at the court. Free to choose his reward, he asked that the story of his adventure be included as a preface in the vizier Buzurgmihr’s translation into Pahlavi (Middle Persian) of the Kalila and Dimna.
This painting, of a seemingly generic reception scene at the Safavid court, focuses only subtly on the story of Burzuy. King Anushirvan is shown seated on his throne, surrounded by attendants and officials; courtiers engage in animated conversations and women watch from their apartments. At center left, however, a young man is busy writing: he probably represents Buzurgmihr, Anushirvan’s brilliant vizier, who is copying either the text of Kalila and Dimna or Burzuy’s story. Burzuy is likely the bearded man sitting opposite him on the right.
The exaggerated white turbans worn by the male courtiers and attendants in this painting reflect Iranian headgear fashionable in the early seventeenth century.[2]
Mika M. Natif
[1] De Blois 1990, 56–57.
[2] See, for example, the artist Riza ʿAbbasi’s double-page painting Picnic with Nobleman, executed in 1612, reproduced in Canby 1996b, cat. 55.
