Collection Online as of June 5, 2023

The Tale of the Twelve Faces. "Bizhan Addresses the Army": Illustration from the Firdausi Shahnama (recto); The Tale of the Twelve Faces. "The Warriors Engage in Combat": Illustration from the Firdausi Shahnama (verso)

Iran, Shiraz, Inju (Il-Khanid), 14th Century

Opaque watercolor and ink on paper

Sheet: 36.3 x 30 cm (14 5/16 x 11 13/16 in.); Image: 28.6 x 24.5 cm (11 1/4 x 9 5/8 in.); Overall: 37 x 30 cm (14 9/16 x 11 13/16 in.); Text area: 29 x 24.5 cm (11 7/16 x 9 5/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1944.479

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The combat scene is enclosed within a step-shaped frame.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Script: Naskh

Provenance

by 1931-?

M. Nazare-Aga, Paris, France

?-1944

(Dikran G. Kelekian [1867-1951], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1944-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Wilson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Patrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931. p. 28, cat. no. 44

p. 28, cat. no. 44

Pope, Arthur Upham, Phyllis Ackerman, and Theodore Bestermann. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. London: Oxford University Press, 1938. Reproduced: pl. 834a

Grube, Ernst J. Muslim Miniature Paintings from the XIII to XIX Century from Collections in the United States and Canada. Catalogue of the Exhibition. Venice: N. Pozza, 1962. pp. 31-32

Exhibition history

International Exhibition of Persian Art. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (January 7-February 28, 1931).

Vienna Library (1935).

Islamic Art Exhibition. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (April 9-May 17, 1959).

Imperial Images in Islamic Painting. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 13-September 11, 1977.)

Islamic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1944-February 2, 1945).

Persian Miniature Manuscripts. The Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 11, 1977).