Tahmina Comes into Rustam's Chamber, illustrated folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama of Firdawsi

This Shahnama painting shows the new direction manuscript painting took in the Timurid court workshops of the fifteenth century. Highest quality materials were applied with exquisite draftsmanship at a very small scale and in a two-dimensional space. Although no text is preserved, later compositions based on this painting confirm that it illustrates the Shahnama episode where Tahmina, the beautiful daughter of the King of Samangan, comes quietly at night to Rustam’s chamber to tell him that she wishes to marry him and bear his child. Caught by surprise but enticed by her charm Rustam spends the night with Tahmina. The painting draws our attention to the nonverbal communication between Tahmina and Rustam as well as the fine details of the setting. A bejeweled Tahmina wearing a fur-lined coat looks coyly behind the candle held by her chambermaid. Rustam, shown under the covers, gazes intently at her figure with his hand on a pillow beckoning her. His armor and weapons, situated behind his bed, are symbolic of his heroic valor. With such jewel-like details this painting is not only a great work of art, but a testimony to the splendor of Timurid palace interiors, now lost.