id: 133448 accession number: 1956.10.a share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.10.a updated: 2022-02-17 10:00:16.516000 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; overall: 32.7 x 22 cm (12 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.); image: 26.1 x 20.7 cm (10 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1956.10.a 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: Overall: 32.7 x 22 cm (12 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.); Image: 26.1 x 20.7 cm (10 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS 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: 1985-10-30T04:00:00 The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986). 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). title: Arts of Iran (Islamic art rotation) opening date: 2018-10-30T04:00:00 Arts of Iran (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 2018-October 28, 2019). --- 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). * Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965). * 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). --- 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: The painting on 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. digital description: The royal feast is set in a green landscape dotted with flowers and blossoming bushes against a gold sky with wisps of blue and white clouds. The group of figures in the upper left includes a falconer, horses, attendants, and two hunting cheetahs, while servers transport food and drink in gold and ceramic vessels, some presumably Chinese blue and white porcelain. Possibly this banquet was offered after a courtly hunt, a prestigious symbol of power and wealth. Among the groups of men sitting on elaborate carpets are three Chinese officials, identifiable by their black hats, kneeling together on the ground. Although their presence indicates the presence of foreign cultures within the Timurid court, the painting also reveals that not all are welcome to the feast; in the bottom half of the page a guard wields a stick to drive a group of men out of the garden. 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: 124166 Shamsa (recto) from right folio from a double-page frontispiece of a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940–1019 or 1025), c. 1444. Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501). Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; image: 27.7 x 10.3 cm (10 7/8 x 4 1/16 in.); overall: 32.5 x 22.1 cm (12 13/16 x 8 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1945.169.a relationship: --- CITATIONS 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 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 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 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10.a/1956.10.a_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10.a/1956.10.a_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10.a/1956.10.a_full.tif