id:			133449
accession number:	1956.10.b
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.10.b
updated:		2023-08-23 21:19:00.321000

Preface (verso) from a double-page frontispiece of a Shahnama of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), c. 1444. Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501). Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; 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.b

title:				Preface (verso) from a double-page frontispiece of a Shahnama of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1444
creation date earliest:		1435
creation date latest:		1449
current location:		
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

---

culture:	Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501)
technique:	opaque watercolor, ink, and gold 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.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Persian Miniature Manuscripts
	opening date:   1977-08-13T04:00:00
	<i>Persian Miniature Manuscripts</i>. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 11, 1977).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

---

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:


digital description:
This text page is the first page of a <em>Shahnama</em> manuscript with an illuminated heading containing the<em> basmala</em> ("In the name of Allah, etc.") followed by the text of the preface to the <em>Shahnama</em>.

wall description:
The painting on the verso of this folio is the first half of a double-page frontispiece now detached from a <em>Shahnama</em> (Book of Kings) manuscript. CMA 1956.10 is the left half of the frontispiece.<br> <br>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

---

CITATIONS

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
	page number: 	Mentioned: cat. no. 722
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n132

	Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, 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.b/1956.10.b_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10.b/1956.10.b_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.10.b/1956.10.b_full.tif