id: 133447 accession number: 1956.10 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.10 updated: 2023-08-24 11:35:27.032000 Royal Reception in a Landscape, left folio from the double frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 940–1019 or 1025), 1444. Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501). Opaque watercolor, ink, gold and silver on paper; recto image: 26.1 x 20.7 cm (10 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.); overall: 32.7 x 22 cm (12 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1956.10 title: Royal Reception in a Landscape, left folio from the double frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 940–1019 or 1025) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1444 creation date earliest: 1444 creation date latest: 1444 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501) technique: opaque watercolor, ink, gold and silver on paper department: Islamic Art collection: Islamic Art type: Manuscript find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Recto Image: 26.1 x 20.7 cm (10 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.); Overall: 32.7 x 22 cm (12 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS 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: Juxtapositions opening date: 1965-09-11T04:00:00 Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965). 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). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (1935). [lent by Minassian] (both folios?) * Exhibition of Islamic Art. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA (February 24-March 22, 1937). * Exhibition of Persian Art. The Iranian Institute, New York, NY (1940). * Exhibition of Islamic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1944). * 7000 Ans d'art en Iran. Petit Palais, Paris (October-November 1961). * Muslim Miniature Paintings from American Collections. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy; Asia House, New York, NY (September 1962-February 1963). * Imperial Images in Persian Painting. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 13-September 11, 1977). * Order and Rhythm: Carpets from the Islamic World. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 10-November 7, 1993). * Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 16, 2013-December 15, 2014). (1956.10.a only) --- PROVENANCE Philipp Walter Schulz [1864-1920], Leipzig, Germany date: by 1914 footnotes: citations: (Adrienne Minassian [1913-1994], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1956 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1956- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: From the upper left two trained cheetahs, a falcon, and horses are led into the scene. digital description: The painting on the recto of this folio is the second half of a double-page frontispiece now detached from a Shah-nama manuscript (see CMA 1945.169 for the first half of the frontispiece). The scene does not illustrate a narrative from the Shah-nama, but likely represents the courtly audience for whose entertainment the manuscript was created. The date and style of the painting indicate that it was made during the reign of the Timurid dynasty in Shiraz, Iran. wall description: The painting on the verso of this folio is the first half of a double-page frontispiece now detached from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) manuscript. CMA 1956.10 is the left half of the frontispiece.

As though setting the scene for royal stories and activities, these two opening pages of Iran’s national epic present a luxurious gathering in an idyllic outdoor setting. Groups of nobles and international diplomats have come bearing gifts, including costly vessels and hunting animals. From the upper left two trained cheetahs, a falcon, and horses are led into the scene. Drama and intrigue seem to be brewing, given the knowing glances and whispers between figures and the four men being driven away by a guard at the lower left. --- RELATED WORKS id: 124165 Royal Reception in a Landscape, right folio from a double-page frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940–1019 or 1025), 1444. Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501). Opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper; overall: 32.5 x 22.1 cm (12 13/16 x 8 11/16 in.); recto image: 27.7 x 10.3 cm (10 7/8 x 4 1/16 in.); verso image: 26.3 x 20.7 cm (10 3/8 x 8 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1945.169 relationship: partner of --- CITATIONS Allsen, Thomas T. The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. page number: 80 url: Schulz, Philipp Walter. Die persisch-islamische Miniaturmalerei. Ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte Irans. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1914. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: vol.1, p. 87; vol II, pl. 36 url: Ackerman, Phyllis. Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art. New York: Iranian Institute of America, 1940. page number: p. 194 url: Robinson, B.W. “The Illustrated Persian Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 34 (September 1952): 69–80. page number: p.72n3 url: Robinson, B.W. “Origin and Date of Three Famous Shah-Nameh Illustrations,” Ars Orientalis I (1954): 105–112. page number: p. 105 url: Stchoukine, Ivan. Les Peintures des Manuscrits Timurids. Paris: Institut Français d’Archéologie de Beyrouth, Bibliothéque archéologique et historique, 1954. page number: pp. 44, 46, 60 url: Shepherd, D.G. “A Shahnamah Frontispiece,” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 43 (December 1956): pp. 213–215. page number: 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. 722 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n132 Gray, Basil. Persian Painting. Cleveland: Editions d’Art Albert Sikra and The World Publishing Company, 1961. page number: pp. 96, 102–103 url: Ghirshman, Roman. Sept mille ans d'art en Iran: Petit Palais, Octobre 1961-Janvier 1962. Paris: Association francaise d’action artistique, 1961. page number: no.1079, p. 193 url: Grube, Ernst J. and Alberta Maria Fabris. Muslim Miniature Paintings from the XIII to XIX Century from Collections in the United States and Canada. Venice: N. Pozza, 1962. page number: Reproduced: no. 34, pp. 46–48 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. 222 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n246 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. 222 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n246 Robinson, B.W. ed., Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1976. page number: pp. 153, 154 url: Hillenbrand, Robert. Imperial Images in Persian Painting. Edinburgh: Scottish Arts Council Gallery, 1977. page number: p. 25, no. 107 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. 279 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n299 Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. page number: Reproduced: no. 45, p. 350 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159914 Williams, Marjorie. “Dragons, Porcelains and Demons, Cultural Exchange between China and Persia,” Orientations 17 no. 8 (August 1986). page number: Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 5 url: Blair, Sheila S. and Jonathan S. Bloom. The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250 – 1800. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. page number: p. 318, no. 24 url: Grabar, Oleg. “Toward an Aesthetic of Persian Painting,” in The Art of Interpreting: Papers in Art History from the Pennsylvania State University vol. IX, ed. Susan C. Scott, pp. 129–162. University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1995. page number: Reproduced: fig. 6-2 url: Sims, Eleanor, with Boris I. Marshak and Ernst J. Grube. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and its Sources. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002. page number: p. 115, fig. 32 url: de Selliers, Diane, editor. Orient: Mille ans de poesi et de peinture. Paris: Diane de Selliers, 2004. page number: pp. 106, 107 url: Allsen, Thomas T. The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. page number: Reproduced: p. 80, fig. 9 url: Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. page number: Reproduced: P. 132, fig. 4.3; Mentioned: P. 133 url: Harrison-Hall, Jessica. " Early Ming Ceramics: Rethinking the Status of Blue-and-White." In Ming China: Courts and Contacts, 1400-1450. Craig Clunas, Jessica Harrison-Hall, and Yu Ping Luk., eds., p. 80. London: The British Museum, 2016. page number: Reproduced: p. 80 pl. 8.7 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10/1956.10_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10/1956.10_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10/1956.10_full.tif