Jamshid is cut in half before Zahhak on a throne. - Lot 96

Jamshid is cut in half before Zahhak on a throne. Iran or Afghanistan, probably Herat, circa 1600-1620. Silver and gold gouache on paper, page from a copy of Firdousi's shahnameh (Book of Kings) manuscript. The painting unfolds around a four-column text in nasta'liq written in black in reserve in golden clouds, and depicts King Zahhak seated on a throne in a palace surrounded by courtiers, watching as Jamchid being cut in half by two executioners. Three pavilions rise above a pink wall at the top of the page. On the reverse, 25 lines of text on four columns in nasta'liq script in gilded frames and title in gold on two columns. Condition: wear, damp spots at top, margin restored on one side, framing cut by ink on one part. Page size: 33 x 22 cm; text: 20.5 x 11.5 cm. This page comes from a copy of Ferdowsi's "Book of Kings" (shahnama) (940-1020), attributed to the Herat school around 1600 by Basil Robinson, which was dispersed in Paris in the early years of the 20th century, and of which several pages were acquired by Henri Vever (Glenn D. Lowry and Milo Cleveland Beach, An Annotated and illustrated checklist of the Vever collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, University of Washington Press, 1988, p. 124). A double frontispiece and at least twelve folios of this same copy were in the Rosenberg collection in Paris in 1913, and six more folios are currently in Washington D.C., at the National Museum of Asian Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (inv. no. S1986.222 to 227) (Lowry & Beach, ibid., cat. 152-157, pp. 123-4). The page shown here has the same vertical margins of bevel-edged colored lines as some miniatures in the former Vever collection now in Washington, notably Shirine before Shiruya (inv. no. S1986.226), where the figures are arranged in the same domed architecture, and Nushirwan questioning the man who broke into the harem (inv. no. S1986.224), also standing in a palace. In the text of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) - the greatest Persian epic written by the poet Ferdowsi-, Jamshid (or Djamchid) was the fourth king of the world. He commanded the angels and demons of the world, was both king and high priest, and under his reign many inventions made human life safer. He divided the people into 4 groups: priests, warriors, farmers and craftsmen. Jamshid had now become the greatest monarch the earth had ever borne, and was granted the Farr, a radiant splendor that shone around him as a sign of divine favor. Jamshid reigned for 300 years, and peace and prosperity reigned with him. But his pride grew with his power, and he began to forget that all the benefits of his reign came from God. He lost the Farr. He had to flee his capital and, after traveling halfway around the world, was caught by King Zahhak, who had him executed.