timur-i-lang:Folio from a Gulistan (Rose garden) by Sa’di: Sa’di and the Two Indian Robbers Herat,
timur-i-lang: Folio from a Gulistan (Rose garden) by Sa’di: Sa’di and the Two Indian Robbers Herat, Afghanistan, circa 1490s “One of the most popular texts for illustration was the Rosegarden by Sa’di, a collection of moralizing and entertaining tales in rhymed prose interspersed with complementary lines of poetry. This painting relates to one of Sa’di’s “personal”anecdotes about a journey he undertook with a group of Syrians. Reportedly, the travelers hired a strong young man to accompany and protect them from the perils of the road. As soon as two Indian bandits ambushed the caravan, however, the youth panicked and offered no resistance. Sa’di maintains: A youth, though he may have a strong arm and an elephant body, His joints may snap asunder for fear of contact with a foe. The spare, carefully balanced composition, luminous palette, and subtle interplay of gestures and glances are characteristic of late fifteenth-century painting at the court of the last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Bayqara (reigned 1470–1506), one of the most important patrons of the arts of the book in Iran and Central Asia.” -- source link