Loading
An Episode from the Story of the Sasanian King Khusrau and His Beloved Shirin, from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami (1141–1209) (verso); Persian verses from a Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) of Jami (d. 1492) (recto)
1540-70
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
The <em>Khamsa </em>is a collection of five narrative poems, one of which is dedicated to the romance of Khusrau Parviz (590–628), a Sasanian king of Iran, and Shirin, his beloved Armenian princess. The lovers are seated in a nocturnal landscape, indicated by the dark blue sky dotted with stars, painted with now tarnished silver. Shirin serves figs and pomegranates, symbolic of fertility, to Khusrau as attendants bring more figs and wine. Next to Shirin’s black horse, the musician at bottom right plays a <em>tanbur</em>, a long-necked, fretted lute.
Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
Details
- Title: An Episode from the Story of the Sasanian King Khusrau and His Beloved Shirin, from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami (1141–1209) (verso); Persian verses from a Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) of Jami (d. 1492) (recto)
- Date Created: 1540-70
- Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 29.6 x 16.2 cm (11 5/8 x 6 3/8 in.); Image: 21 x 13 cm (8 1/4 x 5 1/8 in.)
- Provenance: Purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries by J.H. Wade Fund, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Manuscript
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1947.500
- Medium: opaque watercolor, gold, silver, and ink on paper; double-sided
- Fun Fact: Khusrau’s turban has the anachronistic baton worn by Safavid royalty and the egret feather, an emblem of nobility instituted by the Mongols in the 1200s.
- Department: Islamic Art
- Culture: Iran, probably Shiraz, Safavid period (1501-1722)
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: Islamic Art
- Accession Number: 1947.500
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
