Malik Husayn Isfahani
Soloman (Sulayman) and the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis) enthroned together attended by angels, demons, animals, birds, and Asaf the vizier c. 1648
45.5 x 28.5 cm (page dimensions) | RCIN 1005014.a
Malik Husayn Isfahani
Master: Shahnamah شاهنامه (The Book of Kings) Item: Soloman (Sulayman) and the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis) enthroned together attended by angels, demons, animals, birds, and Asaf the vizier c. 1648
Malik Husayn Isfahani
Master: Shahnamah شاهنامه (The Book of Kings) Item: Soloman (Sulayman) and the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis) enthroned together attended by angels, demons, animals, birds, and Asaf the vizier c. 1648
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f. 5v-6r
Painting in opaque watercolour with metallic paints
Frontispiece of a Shahnamah manuscript (RCIN 1005014) depicting Sulayman (Solomon) and Bilqis (the Queen of Sheba) enthroned together attended by angels, demons, animals, birds, and Asaf the vizier. This theme was a popular subject for Shahnamah frontispieces, celebrating Sulayman's status as a great king as well as a prophet.
On the front of the throne is a signature of the artist Malik Husayn Isfahani. This is the only painting by him in the manuscript. He was older than the other painters who worked on the volume, and this is in an earlier style than the rest of the illustrationsProvenance
Made for Qarajaghay Khan, Governor of Mashhad, c. 1648. In the library of the Durrani kings of Afghanistan c. 1747–1822. In the library of Kamran Shah of Herat since 1822. Presented by Kamran Shah to Queen Victoria in 1839.
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Measurements
45.5 x 28.5 cm (page dimensions)
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