cma-islamic-art: Bahram Gur Arrives at the House of a Merchant, text page (recto); Bahram Gur Slays
cma-islamic-art: Bahram Gur Arrives at the House of a Merchant, text page (recto); Bahram Gur Slays a Dragon (verso), from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), known as the Great Mongol Shahnama, 1330-35, Cleveland Museum of Art: Islamic ArtIn this intense painting, Bahram Gur plunges his sword into the breast of a dragon. A favorite character from Iran’s pre-Islamic history, Bahram Gur (reigned 420–38) was a popular ruler of the Sassanian dynasty and a great hunter. He took the name “Gur,” meaning onager (a wild ass), because it was his preferred game, although he also excelled at killing dragons. As evidenced by this illustration’s rock formations, tree trunk, and dragon, Iranian painting in the Mongol period borrowed numerous stylistic and spatial elements from Chinese models. With the surging landscape and writhing dragon rendered with equal energy, this is a picture of extraordinary unity and concentration.Size: Sheet: 45.8 x 34.4 cm (18 1/16 x 13 9/16 in.)Medium: opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paperhttps://clevelandart.org/art/1943.658 -- source link
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