Unknown Maker, Persian

Isfandiyar and the Dragon

Maker

Unknown Maker, Persian

Culture

Persian

Title

Isfandiyar and the Dragon

Period

Safavid

Year

ca. 1680

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, watercolor, gold

Supports

Geography

Origin: Iran

Dimensions

34.9 x 21.9 cm (13 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

17.450

Type

Exhibition History

Text, Paratext, and Images
Sep 01, 2020 – Jul 24, 2021

Label copy

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.

Glimpses of Grandeur
Courtly Arts of the Later Islamic Empires
Sep 24, 1999 – Dec 26, 1999

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Persian
Isfandiyar and the Dragon, ca. 1680
Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper
34.9 x 21.9 cm (13 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches)
Museum Appropriation Fund 17.450

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