Bahram Gur hunting
16th century
- Classification
- Painting
- Museum
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit line
- This calligraphic fragment is available from the United States Library of Congress's African & Middle Eastern division under the digital ID ascs.156. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright…
- Rights
- Public domain, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
About this work
This painting represents an episode drawn from Nizami's "Haft Paykar" (The Seven Thrones), the fourth book of his "Khamsah" (Quintet). The great Sasanian king Bahram Gur (r. 430-38), famous for his hunting powers and thus nicknamed "wild ass" (Bahram Gur), astonishes his companions with his quasi-divine prowess at hunting onagers. After his expedition and as a gesture of generosity, he orders 1,200 onagers (half to be branded and half to be earmarked with gold rings) to be distributed among his people. Script: nasta'liq.
