288 pages and 272 illustrations
by Sheila R. Canby
Sheila Canby is the curator in charge of the Islamic Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Previously, she was Curator of Islamic Collections at the British Museum. Her other publications include Persian Painting and The Golden Age of Persian Art.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Shahnameh, written between c. 977 and 1010 CE by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of Kings is an excellent introduction to the epic poem. Sheila Canby's lavishly illustrated tome is an important resource for lovers of 16th-century Persian painting and includes all of the illustrations, published in colour for the first time in a single volume. The main section of prints is preceded by two scholarly articles. The first, The Material World of Shah Tahmasp (p.21) compares the painting styles of different schools of Persian art. The second, The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp focuses on the use of paintings as an anthropological tool to understand the lifestyles of the time in which the paintings were made, comparing objects in the paintings to known objects from art museum collections.
This title is out of print but you can look at the first 100 pages here ➡️ The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of Kings - Google Books. If you have loose change in your purse, you can buy a used copy from Abe Books for £520 or UD$664. Otherwise, try your library.
By the way, check out page 87 - Court of Faridunn Folio 83V - the colours are particularly vivid.
Faridun, meaning “one who has no equal” or “unique” has its origins in Persian mythology and literature. He is a revered hero and a king from the Pishdaddian dynasty and he symbolises justice, strength, and protection. Faridun is a major character in the Shahnameh, portrayed as a legendary hero who overthrows the tyrant Zahhak and establishes a just rule.
The Court of Gayumars Folio 20V is on page 69.