From the Harvard Art Museums’ collections Rashnavad Battles the Rumis (painting, verso; text, recto), illustrated folio from the Great Ilkhanid Shahnama (Book of Kings)

verso Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1919.130
Title: Rashnavad Battles the Rumis (painting, verso; text, recto), illustrated folio from the Great Ilkhanid Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Classification: Manuscripts
Work Type: manuscript folio
Date: c. 1335
Places: Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Tabriz
Period: Ilkhanid period
Culture: Persian
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/170129

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions: folio: 41.2 x 29.8 cm (16 1/4 x 11 3/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel
Accession Year: 1919
Object Number: 1919.130
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu; The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

Doris Brian, "A Reconstruction of the Miniature Cycle in the Demotte 'Shah-Nameh'", Ars Islamica, Freer Gallery of Art / Smithsonian Institution and University of Michigan (1 January 1939), vol. 6(2), pp. 97-112, no. 27

Eric Schroeder, Persian Miniatures in the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1942), no. 5

Marianna Shreve Simpson, Arab and Persian Painting in the Fogg Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1980), pp. 23, 112, no. 51

Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century, exh. cat., Museum Associates (Los Angeles, CA, 1989), pp131, fig. 41

Abolala Soudavar, "The Saga of Abu-Sa'id Bahador Khan: The Abu-Sa'idname", Oxford Studies In Islamic Art XII: The Court of the Il-Khans 1290-1340, Oxford University Press (NY) (Oxford, UK, 1996), page 111/figure 9

Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, brochure, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, March 2004), p 8

Exhibition History

The Heavenly Court: Persian Poetry and Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 02/09/1985 - 03/31/1985

Islamic Art: The Power of Pattern, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/23/1989 - 01/17/1990

Paintings for Princes: The Art of the Book in Islam, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/27/1990 - 03/25/1990

Eyes to the East: Indian, Persian, and Turkish Art Given by Harvard Graduates, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/1990 - 11/25/1990

Word and Image in Persian Painting, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2013 - 03/30/2013

A New Light on Bernard Berenson: Persian Paintings from Villa I Tatti, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/20/2017 - 08/13/2017

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu