September 21, 2024–January 12, 2025
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Dates
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Location
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery | Galleries 23 and 24
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Collection Area
Arts of the Islamic World
Monumental in size and boldly illustrated, the Great Mongol Shahnama is the most celebrated of all medieval Persian manuscripts. Considered Iran’s national epic, the Shahnama (Book of kings) was completed by the poet Firdawsi in 1010. The copy known as the Great Mongol Shahnama was produced three hundred years later, likely commissioned by ruler Abu Sa‘id of the Ilkhanid dynasty, a branch of the Mongol Empire. Between the manuscript’s covers, art, power, and history intertwined.
The Shahnama recounts the story of Iran from the beginning of time through the fall of the Sasanian dynasty in the seventh century. The illustrations in the Great Mongol Shahnama emphasize historical kings of Iran’s past, including Alexander the Great, known in Persian as Iskandar, and the pre-Islamic Sasanian monarchs, such as Ardashir I, Bahram Gur (Bahram V), and Kasra Anushirvan (Khusraw I Anushirvan). These figures served as role models to the Ilkhanid rulers, and the manuscript’s impressive paintings demonstrate how the Ilkhanids inserted themselves into Iran’s history.
An Epic of Kings offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see twenty-five folios from this now dismantled manuscript. It is also the first exhibition to present paintings from the Great Mongol Shahnama alongside contemporaneous works from China, the Mediterranean, and the Latin West. Experience this unique historical moment of cultural exchange across Eurasia—where commodities, people, and ideas circulated like never before—with Iran at its center.
Related Publication
The Great Mongol Shahnama
Author List: Robert Hillenbrand
Publisher: Hali Publications Ltd; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
Publication Date: January 31, 2023
The Great Mongol Shahnama is widely considered to be the definitive version of Firdausi’s epic poem, and the greatest of all Persian illustrated manuscripts. The paintings from this manuscript are held in private collections and institutions around the world, and have only been seen together in a single volume once since they were originally dispersed. This monograph reunites the paintings and reproduces them as 67 full-page, high quality color plates, alongside an analysis by leading scholar of Islamic art, Robert Hillenbrand. With newly commissioned photographs and insights into technical aspects of the paintings, The Great Mongol Shahnama is a comprehensive resource for those interested in Persian art and manuscripts.
![A book cover with a gold background. On the left, a bearded king sits on a throne overlooking two subjects to the right. The king wears an ornate blue and gold robe with a gold crown atop his head surrounded by a circular halo. At the foot of his thrown is a pile of bags filled with gifts. One of the subjects crouches and looks up at the king in adoration, hands raised. The other man stands on the right of the cover, smiling at the king and holding two more bags of gifts. In the top right corner, the title “The Great Mongol Shahnama” appears in red text.](https://asia.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2023-Great-Mongol-Shahnama_cover.jpg)
Support
Support for this exhibition is provided by The Ebrahimi Family Endowment for Persian, Arab, and Turkish Art; the Persian Art Programs Endowment; the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Endowment; The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund; the Soudavar Memorial Foundation; and the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art in honor of Marsha E. Swiss.
Iskandar and the talking tree (detail), folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1935.23
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