id: 123432
accession number: 1943.658
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1943.658
updated: 2025-09-25 11:11:09.680000
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. Iran, Tabriz, Ilkhanid period (1256-1353). Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; sheet: 45.8 x 34.4 cm (18 1/16 x 13 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Fund, 1943.658
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
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1330–35
creation date earliest: 1330
creation date latest: 1335
current location:
creditline: Grace Rainey Rogers Fund
copyright:
---
culture: Iran, Tabriz, Ilkhanid period (1256-1353)
technique: opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
department: Islamic Art
collection: Islamic Art
type: Manuscript
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
---
CREATORS
---
measurements: Sheet: 45.8 x 34.4 cm (18 1/16 x 13 9/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Script: Naskh
translation:
remark:
inscription:
translation:
remark:
---
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Islamic Art
opening date: 1944-11-03T04:00:00
Islamic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1944-February 2, 1945).
title: Persian Decorative Art
opening date: 1952-01-15T05:00:00
Persian Decorative Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 15-March 16, 1952).
title: The World of Miniature Painting
opening date: 1953-09-20T04:00:00
The World of Miniature Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 20-November 10, 1953).
title: Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts
opening date: 1955-12-15T05:00:00
Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (December 19, 1955-February 19, 1956).
title: Exhibition of Persian Art
opening date: 1956-05-31T04:00:00
Exhibition of Persian Art. Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East, Rome, Italy (organizer) (May 31-September 30, 1956).
title: Persian Art Before and After the Mongol Conquest
opening date: 1959-04-09T05:00:00
Persian Art Before and After the Mongol Conquest. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (organizer) (April 9-May 17, 1959).
title: The Exhibition of Persian Art: 7000 Years of Art in Iran
opening date: 1961-10-19T04:00:00
The Exhibition of Persian Art: 7000 Years of Art in Iran. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (organizer) (October 19, 1961-January 31, 1962).
title: Muslim Miniature Paintings
opening date: 1962-09-01T04:00:00
Muslim Miniature Paintings. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy, Venezia, Italy (organizer) (September 1-October 31, 1962); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 4, 1962-February 3, 1963).
title: The Classical Style in Islamic Painting
opening date: 1968-11-01T05:00:00
The Classical Style in Islamic Painting. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 1, 1968-January 4, 1969).
title: Persian Miniature Manuscripts
opening date: 1977-08-13T04:00:00
Persian Miniature Manuscripts. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 11, 1977).
title: The Twain Shall Meet
opening date: 1985-10-30T05:00:00
The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).
title: The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353
opening date: 2002-10-28T00:00:00
The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 28, 2002-February 16, 2003); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (April 13-July 27, 2003).
title: Islamic art rotation
opening date: 2013-12-16T05:00:00
Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2013-December 15, 2014).
---
LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'International Exhibition of Persian Art. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (January 7-February 28, 1931).', 'opening_date': '1931-01-07T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (October 9, 1933-January 7, 1934).', 'opening_date': '1933-10-09T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Persian Art. Iranian Institute, New York, NY (1940).', 'opening_date': '1940-01-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Exhibition of Persian Art. Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome, Italy (May-October 1956).', 'opening_date': '1956-05-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': "7000 Ans d'art en Iran. Petit Palais, Paris, France (October-November 1961).", 'opening_date': '1961-10-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Muslim Miniature Paintings from American Collections. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy; Asia House, New York, NY (September 1962-February 1963).', 'opening_date': '1962-09-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Imperial Images in Persian Painting. The Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 13-September 11, 1977).', 'opening_date': '1977-08-13T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Islamic Gallery Rotation (gallery 116). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 30, 2018–January 4, 2019).', 'opening_date': '2018-10-30T00:00:00'}
---
PROVENANCE
(Georges Demotte [1877–1923], New York, NY)
date: c. 1910–?
footnotes:
citations:
Mr. E. Wells, New York
date: ? by 1931–? by 1933
footnotes:
* Listed as lent by Mr. E. Wells, New York, cat. no. 433 in Watson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Patrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. 1st ed. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931.
citations:
Grace Rainey Rogers [1867–1943], New York, NY, consigned to Parke-Bernet for sale
date: ? by 1933–1943
footnotes:
* Listed as lent by Mrs. Rainey Rogers, fig. 11, in Dimand, Maurice Sven. A Guide to an Exhibition of Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1933.
Listed as collection of Mrs. Rainey Rogers, no. 49, p. 110, in Brian, Doris. “A Reconstruction of the Miniature Cycle in the Demotte ‘Shah Namah.’” Ars Islamica 6, no. 2 (1939): 97–112.
citations:
(Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, NY, November 18–20, 1943 sale)
date: November 18–20, 1943
footnotes:
citations:
(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
date: 1943
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1943–
footnotes:
citations:
---
fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
---
RELATED WORKS
---
CITATIONS
Watson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Patrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. 1st ed. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931.
page number: no. 433
url:
Erdman, Kurt. "La Mostra d'arte Persiana a Londra." Dedalo XI (April 1931).
page number: Reproduced: p. 826, fig. 822
url:
Binyon, Laurence, Basil Gray, and J. V. S. Wilkinson. Persian Miniature Painting. Including a Critical and Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March, 1931. London: Oxford University Press, 1933.
page number: Reproduced: no. 29f, pl. XXIVA
url:
Dimand, Maurice Sven. A Guide to an Exhibition of Islamic Miniature Painting and Book Illumination. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1933.
page number: fig. 11
url:
Lorey, E. de. "L'Ecole de Tabriz." Revue des Arts Asiatiques I (1935).
page number: Reproduced: pl. XIVa
url:
Kuhnel, E. "History of Miniature Painting and Drawing." In A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Editors Arthur Upham Pope, Phyllis Ackerman, and Theodore Bestermann. London: Oxford University Press, 1938–39.
page number: Mentioned: vol. III, pp. 1835–1836; Reproduced: vol. V, pl. 839
url:
Schroeder, Eric. “Ahmed Musa and Shams Al-Dīn: A Review of Fourteenth Century Painting.” Ars Islamica 6, no. 2 (1939): 113–142.
page number: Mentioned: pp. 132–133
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4515521
Brian, Doris. “A Reconstruction of the Miniature Cycle in the Demotte ‘Shah Namah.’” Ars Islamica 6, no. 2 (1939): 97–112.
page number: Mentioned: p. 110, no. 49
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4515520
Ackerman, Phyllis. Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art : ... New York, 1940. New York: The Iranian Institute, 1940.
page number: p. 246
url:
Parke-Bernet Galleries. French XVIII Century Furniture, Paintings, Drawings, Etc., Collection of Grace Rainey Rogers 1943/11/18-20. NY: [Parke-Bernet galleries, Inc., auctioneers], 1943.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 418, pp. 140–141
url: https://archive.org/details/notablefrenchfur00park/page/140/mode/2up?view=theater
Hollis, Howard. "Bahrām Gūr Slays a Dragon." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 32, no. 6 (June 1945): 85–86.
page number: Mentioned: p. 85; Reproduced: p. 89
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141210
Shepherd, Dorothy. "A Persian Velvet of the Shāh Ṭahmāsp Period." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 4 (April 1949): 46-49, 53.
page number: Mentioned: p. 46
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141546
Dimand, M.S [Maurice Sven]. "An Exhibition of Islamic and Indian Paintings." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art XIV, no. 4 (Dec. 1955): 85–102.
page number: Mentioned: p. 86; Reproduced: p. 88
url: https://doi.org/10.2307/3257647
Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Roma). Mostra D'arte Iranica: Catalogo, Palazzo Brancaccio, Roma, Giugno-Agosto 1956 [= Exhibition of Iranian Art: Catalogue, Palazzo Brancaccio, Roma, June-August 1956]. Milano: Silvana editoriale d'arte, 1956.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 497, pl. LXXIX
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 720
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n131
Persian Art Before And After the Mongol Conquest.: [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959. the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Museum of Art, 1959.
page number: Mentioned: cat. no. 148, p. 43
url:
Grabar, Oleg. Persian Art Before and After the Mongol Conquest [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959, the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1959.
page number:
url:
Sept mille ans d'art en Iran: [exposition], Petit Palais, octobre 1961-janvier 1962. Paris: Petit Palais, 1962.
page number: no. 1071, p. 192
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 221
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n245
Grube, Ernst J. The Classical Style in Islamic Painting: The Early School of Herat and Its Impact on Islamic Painting of the Later 15th, the 16th and 17th Centuries: Some Examples in American Collections. Germany: Edizioni Oriens, 1968.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 11, p. 185
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 221
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n245
Welch, Stuart Cary. A King’s Book of Kings: The Shah-Nameh of Shah Tahmasp. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 39–41, fig. 4
url:
Hillenbrand, Robert. Imperial Images of Persian Painting: A Scottish Arts Council Exhibition. Edinburgh: Scottish Arts Council Gallery, 1977.
page number: no. 193e
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 278
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n298
Rosenzweig, Daphne Lange. "Stalking the Persian Dragon: Chinese Prototypes for Miniature Representations." Kunst des Orients XII 1/2 (1978–1979), pp. 151–176.
page number: Reproduced: fig. 9
url:
Grabar, Oleg, and Sheila Blair. Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1980.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 154–155
url:
Dickson, Martin Bernard, and Stuart Cary Welch. The Houghton Shahnameh. Cambridge, MA: Published for the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, by Harvard University Press, 1981.
page number: Mentioned: pp. 20–22; Reproduced: p. 20, fig. 13
url:
Williams, Marjorie. "Dragons, Porcelains and Demons: Cultural Exchange Between China and Persia." Orientations vol. 18 no. 8 (August 1986).
page number: p. 86
url:
Ferrier, R. W, editor. The Arts of Persia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
page number: Reproduced: fig. 8
url:
Lentz, Thomas W., Glenn D. Lowry, and Gerlach Collection. Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century. Los Angeles, Washington, DC: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 53, fig. 18
url:
Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni, eds. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press [distributor], 2002.
page number: Reproduced: cat no. 56, p. 257, fig. 187, p. 160
url:
Curatola, Giovanni, and Gianroberto Scarcia. Iran: l'arte persiana. Milano: Jaca Book, 2004.
page number: Reproduced: fig.162, pp. 198–199
url:
Curatola, Giovanni, and Gianroberto Scarcia. Iran: l'arte persiana. Milano: Jaca Book, 2004.
page number: pp. 198–199
url:
Hagedorn, Annette, and Norbert Wolf. Islamic Art. Hong Kong: Taschen, 2009.
page number: Reproduced: fig. 16, p. 18
url:
Hillenbrand, Robert. "Color in the Great Mongol Shahnama." In Manuscripts in the Making: Art & Science. Stella Panayotova and Paola Ricciardi. London; Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2017.
page number: Reproduced: p. 217; ill. 3
url:
Coffey, Heather. "Collapsing Geography and Orientalizing Pigment in a Fourteenth-Century Chromoshpere: Italian Painting and Ilkhanid Ceramics." In The Seas and the Mobility of Islamic Art. Radha Dalal, Sean E. Roberts, and Jochen A. Sokoly eds., 38–53. Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art and Culture, 2021. New Haven: Yale University Press; [Ar-Rayyan, Qatar]: in association with Qatar Foundation; [Richmond, Virginia]: Virginia Commonwealth University; [Education City, Doha, Qatar]: and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, 2021.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 47, fig. 2.5
url:
Hillenbrand, Robert. The Great Mongol Shahnama. London, Washington, DC, New Haven, CT: Hali Publications Ltd.; Freer Gallery of Art: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art; Published in association with Yale University Press, 2022.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: painting 49
url:
---
IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1943.658/1943.658_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1943.658/1943.658_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1943.658/1943.658_full.tif