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Persian

Isfandiyar and the Dragon, ca. 1680

Description

Maker

Culture

Persian

Title

Isfandiyar and the Dragon

Year

ca. 1680

Medium

Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

34.9 x 21.9 cm (13 11/16 x 8 5/8 inches) (sheet) Page; greatest height, mat size: A; Asian Art Depar

Place

Iran

Type

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

17.450

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Text, Paratext, and Images

September 1, 2020 - July 24, 2021

In this scene, the hero Isfandiyar confronts a dragon during a journey to rescue his sisters. Isfandiyar had a horse-drawn cart fitted with spears and hid himself in a box within. The dragon swallowed the cart and the embedded blades. According to the Farsi text below the image, Isfandiyar then “came out of the box and struck the dragon’s brain with his sword, and a poisonous smoke rose from the dragon’s head.”

The painting was probably once bound in a copy of the Shahnameh—stories written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi that describe Persian kings and heroes and their conflicts with various enemies, including mystical creatures.

Related

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Persian, Iran

Sikandar and the dragon, around 1680
No Image Available

Persian, Iran

Sikandar and the dragon, around 1680

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Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Isfandiyar and the Dragon with the accession number of 17.450. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.