SOHRAB SLAIN BY RUSTAM, FROM FIRDAWSI’S SHAHNAMA, PERSIA, 16TH CENTURY

拍品描述

Persian manuscript on paper, the text written in delicate nastaʿlīq script in black ink arranged in four columns; intercolumnar rules in gold; inner margins ruled in colours and gold; with an illustration executed in gouache and gold. Framed and glazed. Leaf: 21 by 29 cm. This poignant scene illustrates one of the most tragic episodes from Firdawsī’s Shāhnāma. The great hero Rustam, unaware that he had fathered a son with Princess Tahmina, encounters Suhrab on the battlefield, each fighting for opposing sides. Engaged in single combat, they struggle fiercely until Rustam delivers a fatal blow. Only in the aftermath does the truth emerge: upon seeing the arm bracelet worn by Suhrab—once given by Rustam to Tahmina and passed on to their son as a token of protection—Rustam realises that he has slain his own child. A powerful meditation on fate, identity, and the tragic consequences of ignorance, this episode stands among the most moving narratives of the Persian epic tradition.

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