Bahram Gur Arrives at the House of a Merchant, text page (recto); Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama
1330–35
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
In this intense painting, Bahram Gur plunges his sword into the breast of a dragon. A favorite character from Iran's pre-Islamic history, Bahram Gur (reigned 420–38) was a popular ruler of the Sassanian dynasty and a great hunter. He took the name "Gur," meaning <em>onager </em>(a wild ass), because it was his preferred game, although he also excelled at killing dragons. As evidenced by this illustration's rock formations, tree trunk, and dragon, Iranian painting in the Mongol period borrowed numerous stylistic and spatial elements from Chinese models. With the surging landscape and writhing dragon rendered with equal energy, this is a picture of extraordinary unity and concentration.
- Title: Bahram Gur Arrives at the House of a Merchant, text page (recto); Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama
- Date Created: 1330–35
- Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 45.8 x 34.4 cm (18 1/16 x 13 9/16 in.)
- Provenance: (Georges Demotte [1877–1923], New York, NY), Wells, Grace Rainey Rogers [1867–1943], New York, NY, (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Manuscript
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1943.658
- Medium: opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
- Fun Fact: The <em>Shahnama</em> is an epic poem that traces the fortunes of heroes and kings, of lovers and enemies.
- Department: Islamic Art
- Culture: Iran, Tabriz, Ilkhanid period (1256-1353)
- Credit Line: Grace Rainey Rogers Fund
- Collection: Islamic Art
- Accession Number: 1943.658
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