SHÂHNÂMEH · POETRY · SAFAVIDES · QAJARS
Iranian and Persian painting: 100 essential paintings
Six centuries of images between epic, mystical, court and portrait
Persian painting is neither a format nor a school. These hundred works run through the epic manuscripts of the Book of Kings, the visions of Attâr and Nizami, the isolated figures of Reza Abbasi, the Safavid opening to European models and the monumentality of Qajar portraits.
A tradition of scholarly painting
From the illuminated page to the large courtyard canvas
The word Persian here designates a visual and literary tradition developed in the Iranian space and disseminated well beyond its borders. Painted in opaque watercolor, ink and gold, miniatures are not simple illustrations: they interpret the text, organize the time of the story and transform each page into an autonomous world.
In Persian painting, the text opens the story; color, architecture and landscape give it a second life.
From the 14th to the 16th century, the various Books of Kings gave shape to the heroes and political dilemmas of the Iranian epic. Under the Safavids, the album sheet favored isolated figures, conversations and observation. At 19th century, the Qajars adapted oil on canvas, large format and European modeling without renouncing frontality or decorative power.
Enter the rankingOne hundred Persian and Iranian paintings to know
The Gathering of Birds and The Lovers open the route with two masterpieces where spiritual quest and intimacy completely renew Persian painting.
#1
The Gathering of Birds
In Attâr's mystical poem, the birds go to seek their ruler, the Simorgh, before discovering that he is a reflection of their own community. Habiballah transforms this spiritual revelation into a mountain rustling with wings, rocks and conversations.
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#2
The lovers
Reza Abbasi tightens two bodies in an embrace that almost abolishes space. The curved lines, intertwined hands and gold in the background make intimacy a self-contained subject, far from the big traditional court scenes.
See this reproduction →Twenty-three pages of an exceptional Safavid manuscript show how painters and workshops transform Ferdowsi's epic into a theater of color, power and destiny.
#3
Tahmuras defeats demons
Tahmuras subdues demons, but grants them life when they promise to teach him writing. The miniature thus combines royal victory and the birth of knowledge, in a whirlwind of fantastic creatures, weapons and colors.
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#4
The Feast of Sadeh
This winter festival commemorates the discovery of fire by King Houchang. The blaze becomes the luminous center of a cosmic meeting where courtyard, landscape and mountain together celebrate human mastery of a natural force.
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#5
The Parable of Ferdowsi's Ship of Shiism
The ship that carries the Prophet, Ali and their descendants condenses a profession of faith on the threshold of the Book of Kings. Mirza Ali organizes the allegory like a sacred arch advancing in the middle of a carefully ordered mineral and marine world.
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#6
Roudabeh makes her hair a ladder
Roudabeh drops her long hair from the tower so Zal can join her. The scene transforms a forbidden romantic encounter into a vertical feat: architecture, garden and black locks guide the gaze towards the two lovers.
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#7
Kay Kavus rises into the sky
The king attaches eagles to his throne to reach the sky, but his excessive ambition causes him to fall. The composition suspends the strange machine above the landscape and makes the episode a spectacular fable about the pride of power.
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#8
The Fight of Rostam and Ashkabus
Rostam confronts Rider Ashkabus on foot and shoots him down with an arrow before he can enjoy his mount. The miniature contrasts the monumental stability of the hero with the scattered speed of the battlefield.
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#9
Esfandiyar's third test: the dragon
To pass his third test, Esfandiyar hides blades in a cart and draws the dragon against them. The monster occupies the landscape like a living mountain, while the hero imposes order through ingenuity as much as through force.
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#10
Rostam kills Esfandiyar
Guided by the Simorgh, Rostam strikes Esfandiyar's invulnerable eyes with a tamarisk arrow. The tragic duel does not celebrate a simple victory: it shows two heroes condemned by honor, royalty and a destiny already announced.
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#11
Zahhak learns his destiny
The tyrant Zahhak hears that Faridoun will end his reign. The image transforms the prophecy into a political crisis: the sovereign remains in the center of the palace, but the tension of gestures and looks reveals that his power is already cracked.
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#12
Rostam leads the Demon King before Kay Kavus
After freeing Kay Kavus, Rostam brings the leader of the demons before the king for his judgment. The opposition between the ordained court and the captive creature materializes the return of a chaotic world under royal authority.
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#13
Siyavush accused by Sudabeh in front of Kay Kavus
Sudabeh accuses Siyavush after being pushed back by him, placing Kay Kavus between desire, filiation and justice. Architecture compartmentalizes the scene as an intimate tribunal where speech threatens more than weapons.
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#14
The Marriage of Siyavush and Farangis
The union of Siyavush and Farangis promises a reconciliation between the Iranian and Touranian worlds. The palace decor, fabrics and ceremonial nevertheless give this harmony a particular gravity, because the story will soon lead to the murder of the prince.
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#15
The Night Battle of Kay Khosrow and Afrasiyab
The war between Kay Khosrow and Afrasiyab continues in the dark, when ordinary landmarks disappear. Torches, horses and armor fragment the fray; the night transforms the epic into an experience of collective disorientation.
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#16
Sixth Esfandiyar test: crossing the snow
Esfandiyar and his men advance in a storm that erases paths and reliefs. White is not a decorative void: it becomes the main adversary, a hostile material that the troop must cross before reaching its goal.
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#17
Rostam avenges his imminent death
Mortally wounded by his half-brother Shaghad's trap, Rostam gathers his last strength and pierces him through a tree. Revenge coincides with the hero's agony, giving the final feat violence without triumph.
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#18
Zal consults the mages
Before his marriage to Roudabeh, Zal asks the wise men to interpret the signs and confirm the future of their lineage. The consultation gives a visual form to doubt: scholarly speech frames a destiny from which Rostam will be born.
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#19
The Sharing of Kay Khosrow's Loot
The war prizes are presented in front of Kay Khosrow then promised to the warriors according to their rank. The profusion of objects, horses and servants not only celebrates wealth: it depicts the political economy of loyalty.
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#20
Bijan receives Manijeh's invitation
Manijeh's nanny secretly invites Bijan to join the princess, shifting the heroic adventure towards the love story. The measured gestures and the orderly garden conceal a decision that will lead to captivity, rescue and reconciliation.
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#21
Zal kills Khazarvan
Zal faces Khazarvan in a duel that establishes his worth before the great exploits of his son Rostam. The confrontation isolates the adversaries in the middle of an attentive landscape, as if nature itself recorded the birth of a heroic lineage.
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#22
Drunk Iranian Camp attacked at night
Taking advantage of the drunkenness of the Iranian camp, the enemies launch a night attack. The disorder of tents, sleepers and horsemen reverses the codes of heroic battle: collective imprudence makes bravery almost useless.
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#23
Goshtasp proves his skill at the bow before Caesar
Exiled to Caesar's court, Goshtasp reveals his heroic identity through an archery test. The bow here becomes a diplomatic language: the precision of the gesture restores the prince's rank better than a speech.
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#24
Fourth test of Esfandiyar: the witch
The witch appears as an attractive young woman before Esfandiyar reveals her true nature. The painting plays on metamorphosis, opposing the mask of desire to the vigilance of the hero.
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#25
Faramarz surrounded in his fight against Bahman
Faramarz resists Bahman's army in a composition that gradually closes the space around him. The density of the horsemen makes the inevitable defeat felt, while retaining a moral stature for the isolated hero.
See this reproduction →From the little Shâhnâmeh of the 14th century to the Timurid versions, the vocabulary of the epic is built around combat, wisdom, justice and loss.
#26
Zal in the Simorgh's nest
Abandoned because his hair is white, the child Zal is taken in by the Simorgh on the top of a mountain. The little human figure, protected in the nest of the fabulous bird, makes the difference the origin of an exceptional destiny.
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#27
Rostam captures Rakhsh lassoing
Among the herds, Rostam chooses Rakhsh, the only horse capable of supporting his strength, and masters him with a lasso. The circle of the rope unites the hero with his future epic companion rather than signaling a simple capture.
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#28
Rostam kills the White Demon
At the end of his seven trials, Rostam defeats the White Demon in order to heal Kay Kavus and his blinded warriors. The fight in the cave concentrates the epic in a brutal confrontation between human body and monstrous power.
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#29
Rostam thrown into the sea by the demon Akvan
The demon Akvan lifts Rostam up and asks him if he would rather be thrown into the mountain or into the sea. Understanding that the demon will do the opposite of his answer, the hero skillfully chooses the mountain and survives the waves.
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#30
Kay Khosrow kills Afrasiyab
After a long war, Kay Khosrow executes Afrasiyab to avenge the murder of her father Siyavush. The scene ends a cycle of prosecutions and reprisals, but the solemnity of the gesture prevents any jubilant reading.
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#31
Fifth Esfandiyar test: the Simorgh
Esfandiyar confronts a gigantic Simorgh using a chariot bristling with blades. The episode distinguishes this hostile bird from Zal's protector: the same fabulous creature can embody rescue or threat depending on the story.
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#32
Alexander before the Brahmins
Alexander meets Indian sages who have renounced material goods. Their stripping places the conqueror before another form of power, based on self-control rather than the extent of territories.
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#33
Alexander converses with the mountain bird
On top of a mountain, a wonderful bird warns Alexander of the limits of his enterprise. The dialogue between sovereign and creature transforms the expedition into a quest for knowledge, where the inaccessible resists conquest.
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#34
Alexander's Funeral
Alexander's remains bring together those whom his conquests had dispersed. The funeral ceremony brings the king's universal ambition back to the vulnerability of a body, while the assembly measures the end of a political world.
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#35
The Execution of Mazdak
Reformer Mazdak and his supporters are massacred on the orders of Prince Khosrow. The almost regular organization of violence makes the scene more worrying: power transforms repression into a state spectacle.
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#36
Bozorgmehr masters the game of chess
Bozorgmehr understands the rules of chess sent from India as a diplomatic enigma. The intelligence of the vizier protects the honor of the Persian court; the miniature board thus becomes a real political battlefield.
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#37
Bahram Tchoubine meets the woman who predicts her destiny
A woman announces to Bahram Tchoubine her imminent glory then her fall. The encounter suspends the warrior's movement: instead of a fight, the image shows the moment when the future imposes itself on the one who thought he had mastered it.
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#38
Bozorgmehr explains backgammon to Indian raja
After solving the secret of chess, Bozorgmehr invented backgammon and explained the rules to the Indian sovereign. The game becomes an intellectual response as much as a cultural exchange between two rival courts.
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#39
Bahram Gour fights at the court of King Shangol
Bahram Gour demonstrates his strength in front of King Shangol by facing an Indian champion. The bodies tied in the center of the court make the struggle a test of political recognition, observed as a ceremonial.
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#40
Esfandiyar Funeral
Esfandiyar's body returns to his family after his fatal duel against Rostam. The collective lamentation transforms the invulnerable hero into an object of mourning and recalls the human price of royal decisions.
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#41
Siyavush's Trial of Fire
To prove his innocence in the face of Sudabeh's accusations, Siyavush crosses a huge blaze on horseback. The flame becomes a visible judge: it frames the prince without consuming him and gives the truth a spectacular form.
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#42
Kharrad discovers that the princess is an automaton
Kharrad understands that the attractive princess she meets in a wonderful palace is just a mechanism. The episode makes the image itself a trap: beauty, artifice and engineering compete to deceive the eye.
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#43
Bijan slaughters Arman's wild boars
Bijan frees the Arman region from wild boars that destroy crops. The subject combines aristocratic prowess and protection of the rural world; hunting also prepares the hero's meeting with Manijeh.
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#44
Rostam speaks with Esfandiyar
Before their duel, Rostam and Esfandiyar still try to resolve their conflict through words. The image delays the violence and shows two heroes aware of the trap of honor, yet unable to escape it.
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#45
Siyavush plays polo in front of Afrasiyab
At the Touranian court, Siyavush asserts his valor during a game of polo. The movement of the riders transforms the game into a diplomatic demonstration: grace and equestrian mastery become visible proof of princely rank.
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#46
Yazdegerd I killed by the water horse
A mysterious horse emerges from a spring, lets Yazdegerd approach him and then kills him with a hoof. The supernatural apparition gives the king's death the force of a judgment that no human adversary could have pronounced.
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#47
Bahram Gour hunts with Azadeh
Azadeh challenges Bahram Gour to perform an impossible shot while hunting; he transforms a male gazelle into a female with his arrows and vice versa. The prince's virtuosity also reveals his cruelty and the ambiguity of the spectacle.
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#48
Elijah and Khizr at the source of life
Elijah and Khizr discover the water that confers immortality, while Alexander searches for it in vain. The dark landscape lights up around the spring, making spiritual knowledge a discreet illumination rather than a conquest.
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#49
The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
Taking refuge in a cave to escape persecution, seven young believers fall asleep for centuries. The miniature brings together sleep, divine protection and waiting, like an image of time suspended before the resurrection.
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#50
Jonah and the whale
Thrown back onto the shore after being swallowed up, Jonah receives a garment from an angel. The monumental fish, the angel and the vulnerable body condense the story of disobedience, trial and mercy.
See this reproduction →Khosrow and Chirine, Bahram Gour, Joseph and Zuleikha or Sheikh Sanan give painting a privileged terrain for exploring desire, trial and spiritual transformation.
#51
Khosrow surprises Chirine in the bath
Khosrow discovers Chirine bathing in a stream, the founding meeting of their love story. The water, the horse and the eyes organize a scene where desire and restraint remain in balance.
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#52
Sultan Sanjar and the old woman
An old woman reproaches Sultan Sanjar for the injustices committed by his agents. The sovereign on horseback must listen to the one who stands on the edge of power; the miniature transforms individual complaint into a lesson in government.
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#53
Alexander and the circle of the seven wise men
Alexander brings together seven philosophers to debate the world, power and knowledge. The material circle of scholars offers another image of sovereignty: the king occupies the center because he listens.
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#54
Bahram Gour in the blue flag
Every day, Bahram Gour visits a princess in a pavilion associated with a color and a planet. Wednesday blue transforms architecture, clothing and storytelling into a moral atmosphere ruled by Mercury.
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#55
Bahram Gour demonstrates his hunting skills in front of Fitnah
Fitnah refuses to marvel at Bahram Gour's prowess, saying it comes from habit. The hunting spectacle becomes a debate about talent, training and the sovereign's need to be admired.
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#56
Bahram Gour and the princess of the fifth climate
In the sandalwood pavilion associated with Wednesday, the princess tells Bahram a story given to the color blue. Architecture serves as a sensory framework where poetry, astrology and painting respond to each other.
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#57
The Fable of the Lion and the Hare
The hare saves the animals by persuading the lion that its own reflection in a well is a rival. The small scene condenses a lasting political morality: collective intelligence can defeat a tyrannical force.
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#58
Sheikh Sanan under the window of the young Christian woman
The old sheikh abandons status and certainties after seeing a young Christian woman in a dream and then under her window. The difference in scale between the lover on the ground and the elevated figure reflects the spiritual test of desire.
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#59
Sheikh Sanan and the young Christian
Sanan accepts successive humiliations to join the one he loves, before their story leads to reciprocal conversion. The encounter transforms human love into a paradoxical path towards mystical knowledge.
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#60
A bandit spares a poor man's life
Faced with a man who has nothing, the bandit gives up killing him. Attâr makes this tiny gesture a spiritual step: the absence of wealth disarms violence and suddenly makes compassion possible.
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#61
Joseph taken from the well
Abandoned by his brothers, Joseph is discovered by a caravan and brought up from the well. The verticality of the rescue announces the reversal of his destiny, from the rejected child to the future interpreter of dreams.
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#62
Joseph in front of the women of Cairo
Dazzled by Joseph's beauty, the women of Cairo cut their fingers without realizing it. The miniature distributes surprise, pain and fascination around a figure whose presence suspends ordinary action.
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#63
Zuleikha surrounded by her servants after her second dream
After dreaming of Joseph a second time, Zuleikha confides her trouble to her servants. The palace becomes the scene of a still invisible desire, carried by confidences, gestures and waiting.
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#64
Joseph and Zuleikha reunited after Potiphar's death
Aged and tested, Zuleikha finds Joseph after the death of her husband; the mystical story transforms their late union into a reward for purified fidelity. The image opposes human time to the permanence of desire.
See this reproduction →Ascension, healing, Shiite mourning, conquests of Tamerlane and universal stories bring together faith, political memory and historical imagination.
#65
The Ascension of Muhammad on Bouraq
Guided by the angel Gabriel, Muhammad crosses the heavens on the mount Bouraq. Clouds of flames, angels and colors make the night journey a climb through the degrees of the spiritual world.
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#66
Muhammad restores health to sick child
The Prophet leans towards a child whose miraculous presence restores to health. Designed for a book of auguries, the scene combines healing and hope: the image itself was to guide the reader's interpretation.
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#67
Imam Ali's Coffin
Ali's coffin is led to his burial site in a vision charged with mourning and sacredness. The bearers, the angels and the landscape give a cosmic dimension to the memory of the first Shiite imam.
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#68
The Conquest of Baghdad by Tamerlane
Tamerlane enters Baghdad at the end of a campaign that violently reorganizes the region. The urban view, the troops and the sovereign compose an official history where military victory becomes proof of legitimacy.
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#69
Tamerlane before the battle
Before the confrontation, Tamerlane receives leaders and advisors under a canopy. Painting favors preparation for the melee: order of ranks, circulation of messages and concentration of the sovereign make the organization of power visible.
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#70
The Siege of Baghdad
The fortifications of Baghdad structure the scene while fighters, archers and horsemen press the city. Architecture is not a background: it measures the difficulty of conquest and locks violence into a readable geometry.
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#71
Adam makes a pilgrimage
Adam advances towards a sacred place in a universal history that links biblical origins and Islamic memory. The pilgrimage transforms the first man into a model of the believer in movement, seeking repair and divine closeness.
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#72
Throne scene from the Compendium of Stories
A sovereign sits at the center of an assembly drawn from a vast chronicle of the world. The hierarchy of figures and architecture make authority immediately readable, while placing the reign in a longer history.
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#73
Amr throws the infidels into the sea
Khavarannama transposes the exploits of Ali and his companions into an epic register close to the Book of Kings. Here, Amr's victory takes a spectacular maritime form where religious narrative and heroic imagination merge.
See this reproduction →Festivals, equestrian exercises, portraits and nocturnal scenes gradually bring the painting out of the manuscript alone to give the figure an independent presence.
#74
Entertainment in a garden
Music, conversation and rest unfold in an enclosed garden, a terrestrial image of an ideal order. Trees, carpets and figures distribute the pleasures of the court without disrupting the meticulous balance of the composition.
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#75
Horse Archery Skill Competition
Horsemen shoot their arrows while running in front of an assembly. The stage brings together military training and aristocratic spectacle: the elegance of the movement proves both rank and warlike effectiveness.
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#76
Party at court
Around the cuts, music and conversations, the court puts itself on stage. Painting orders collective pleasures through the color and rhythm of the figures, transforming conviviality into a political image of harmony.
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#77
Portrait of a man by Reza Abbasi
Reza Abbasi isolates a man dressed soberly against an almost empty background. The supple line, attention to the hands and economy of decor move the Persian portrait from ceremony to individual observation.
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#78
The Old Man and the Young Man
Two ages of life are brought together in an image whose meaning remains deliberately open. Reza Abbasi contrasts faces, postures and clothing to make the relationship between experience and youth the real subject.
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#79
Night meeting
Muhammad Zaman illuminates an assembly with light sources internal to the stage, an innovation nourished by contacts with European painting. The night gives depth, intimacy and theater to court sociability.
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#80
Two old men chatting in front of a hut
Ali Qoli Jabbadar places two elderly men outside the palatial setting, in front of rustic architecture. Their quiet conversation, attentive to gestures and faces, broadens court painting towards a more everyday humanity.
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#81
Portrait of Russian Ambassador Andrei Priklonsky
The presence of the Russian envoy at the Safavid court becomes a diplomatic document as much as a portrait. Costume, posture and landscape translate curiosity for foreigners into a Persian language already open to European models.
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#82
Summer
A female figure personifies summer within a series of seasons. The luminous landscape, clothing and attributes transform the passage of time into human presence, according to a formula renewed by exchanges with Europe.
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#83
Portrait of a Persian lady
Sitting three-quarters, the young woman asserts her presence through the costume, the look and the precision of the jewelry. The portrait combines court ideal and individual attention, at a time when Iranian painting absorbs European effects.
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#84
The Prince killing a lion
The prince confronts the lion in a compact image of dynastic courage. Victory over the animal is not just about hunting: it equates the sovereign with a force capable of protecting and dominating.
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#85
Man in fur-lined coat
The model turns the body slightly and lets the coat define its silhouette. Reza Abbasi makes the texture of the fur, the reserve of the gesture and the finesse of the contour the signs of an elegance without superfluous decoration.
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#86
Bird study
Reza Abbasi observes the bird posed with a precision that goes beyond ornament. Plumage, body balance and thin branch reveal how Persian painting could make a natural pattern a complete, attentive and silent subject.
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#87
Mythical creatures gathered around a lotus leaf
Mu'in Musavvir brings together hybrid beings around an excessive lotus, like an assembly from a parallel world. Zoological fantasy is coupled with a circular composition where each creature participates in the same strange balance.
See this reproduction →Dignitaries, princes, dancers and palace figures show how 19th-century Iran combines Persian precision, oil on canvas and a new image of the state.
#88
Portrait of Mirza Mohammad Ebrahim Khan Saham ol-Molk
Sani ol-Molk stares at the Qajar dignitary with almost photographic attention to the face, decorations and clothing. The portrait puts the meticulousness of the miniature at the service of a new administrative representation of power.
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#89
Portrait of Prince Naser al-Din Mirza
Before his accession to the throne, Naser al-Din Mirza appeared as a military heir, surrounded by insignia and dressed in a carefully described uniform. The portrait builds future authority through mastery of costume and pose.
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#90
Portrait of Ali Qoli Mirza, Etezad ol-Saltaneh
Prince, scholar and head of education, Ali Qoli Mirza is presented in language that combines Qajar rank and intellectual identity. Sani ol-Molk balances documentary precision and contained dignity.
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#91
Portrait of a statesman
The frontality, beard, decorations and sobriety of the background give the model the authority of a public function. Yahya Ghaffari adapts the meticulous tradition of Persian portraiture to the political codes of the late 19th century.
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#92
Portrait of Mirza Ali Asghar Khan
Ismaïl Jalayir represents one of the future strong men of the Qajar court in a setting saturated with signs. The controlled accumulation of ornaments, weapons and biographical details transforms the portrait into a career manifesto.
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#93
Portrait of a young prince
The Qajar prince stands out on a large format canvas, dressed in a costume designed to make visible rank, wealth and youth. The oil allows for more carnal volumes than the miniature while retaining ceremonial frontality.
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#94
Prince of the Falcon
The falcon placed on the hand connects the prince to the ancient royal iconography of hunting. The oil on canvas, the modeling of the face and the monumental format, however, inscribe this image in the Qajar modernization of the portrait.
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#95
Queen and prince surrounded by musicians
A sovereign and a young prince occupy the center of a musical assembly. The stage links dynastic transmission and court pleasure: the musicians make visible the harmony that those in power wish to project.
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#96
Dancer
The Qajar dancer poses in an almost theatrical space, dressed in carefully detailed fabrics and jewelry. Oil and gold give court entertainment a monumental presence, directly addressed to the viewer.
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#97
Young man holding a cup
The young man presents his cut as an attribute of conviviality, poetry and refinement. The large oil format amplifies a familiar motif from Persian albums and transforms it into an autonomous figure intended for the palace.
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#98
Woman holding fruit
This Safavid mural once isolated a female figure within an architectural setting. Fruit, posture and clothing suggest abundance; the plaster surface reminds us that Persian painting also occupied the walls.
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#99
Woman with a vase of lilies
The woman holds a vase whose lilies vertically extend her silhouette. The painter balances figure and floral motif, transforming a gesture of presentation into a study of grace, rhythm and sartorial elegance.
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#100
Woman applying henna
Sitting in a small space, the woman performs a gesture of body care rarely treated as the main subject. The miniature observes everyday intimacy without heroic narration and makes the movement of the hands the center of the image.
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Three entry points into Persian painting
The Metropolitan Museum of Art records have preserved the Open Access attribution, date, technique and image for each work. Article images now open the corresponding Alpha Reproduction pages.
The Book of Kings
Tahmuras defeats demons - Sultan MuhammadThe king's victory is coupled with a story about the invention of writing and the transmission of knowledge.Zal in the Simorgh's nestThe fabulous bird takes in the rejected child and prepares one of the great heroic lineages of the epic.Frequently asked questions
Questions about Persian and Iranian painting
References to distinguish terms, understand the miniature, situate the Book of Kings and follow the transition from Safavid workshops to Qajar portraiture.
What is the difference between Persian painting and Iranian painting?
Persian painting mainly designates a historical, literary and visual tradition developed in the Persian cultural space. Iranian painting is a broader geographical and modern term. The two expressions often overlap, but they are not strictly synonymous.
Is a Persian miniature really a painting?
Yes. The works on paper in this route are painted in opaque watercolor, often supplemented with ink, gold or silver. No drawings, prints or photographs appear in the selection.
Why does Shâhnâmeh occupy such an important place?
Ferdowsi's Book of Kings brings together Iran's mythical and heroic history. Its conflicts, its sovereigns and its moral dilemmas have given painters an exceptional repertoire, renewed from one manuscript to another for several centuries.
Who is Reza Abbasi?
Active in Isfahan around 1600, Reza Abbasi is one of the masters of Safavid painting. His isolated figures, his flexible lines and his attention to gestures have profoundly renewed the art of the album sheet.
What is Qajar painting?
It developed under the Qajar dynasty, from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. It combines Persian traditions, court portraits, large formats and effects borrowed from European painting and photography.
Where do the works and images come from?
The hundred works belong to the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and their images are distributed by the museum's Open Access program. Each painting now has an Alpha Reproduction page accessible from the article.
Are the hundred works offered for reproduction?
Yes. Each image and button opens the Alpha Reproduction page created for the corresponding painting. Reproductions are made by hand and adapted to the proportions of the original work.
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