Rustam Kills The White Div Rug

دیو سپید lit.

Rustam kills the white div rug.

Scene from the shahnameh. He kills the white div folio 124 from a shah nama book of kings of firdausi persian about 934 1020 cleveland. Iskandar kills the abyssinian monster. In the shahnameh rostam and his.

He possesses great physical strength and is skilled in sorcery and necromancy he destroys the army of kay kavus by conjuring a dark storm of hail boulders and tree trunks using his magical skills. Rustam standing with dagger armoured slays the white div white demon depicted with tail and bestial features. Attributed to northwestern iran or baghdad. Rustam slaying the white div outside a cave.

Nearby is rustam s horse. In the persian epic of shahnameh div e sepid persian. The legendary hero rustam identified by his tiger skin clothing kills the savage chief of the demons the white div in an immense cave as other demons watch from above. Sam goes to fight mihrab.

He rustam s seventh course. The mobads question hurmuzd and receive answers. The artist was obviously drawing on a shiraz inspiration. In this magnificent refined work of a painter of the safavid court in iran the warrior hero rustam completes his last of seven herculean labors that established his prowess as a matchless hero.

رستم is a legendary hero in persian mythology the son of zāl and rudaba whose life and work was immortalized by the 10th century persian poet ferdowsi in the shahnameh or epic of kings which contains pre islamic iranian folklore and history. Illustrated leaf from a manuscript of firdausi s shahnama mughal late 16th century note. Description on this folio from walters manuscript w 602 rustam kills the white div the seventh feat. However the roots of the narrative date much earlier to the seventh century.

Provenance henry walters baltimore date and mode of acquisition unknown. White demon is the chieftain of the divs demons of mazandaran he is a huge being. Abu l qasim firdausi iranian 935 1020 date. Ink opaque watercolor silver and gold on paper.

While the mughal prvenance is obvious i have to note the cave the blue bacground rocks and the gold sky with the two tone cloud swirls. Spencer collection the new york public library. Rustam kills the white div devil the great sages mourn the death of iskandar. Walters art museum 1931 by bequest.