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Unknown artist
Detail; King Khusraw Anushirvan, c. 741 A.H. (A.D. 1341)
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
1 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (28.58 x 24.13 cm)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
King Khusraw Anushirvan Enthroned, Page from a Manuscript of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdawsi
Unknown artist
King Khusraw Anushirvan, c. 741 A.H. (A.D. 1341)
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
1 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (28.58 x 24.13 cm)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The love story starts off with the birth and education of Khosrow. Following this, Khosrow is chastised by his father, Hormizd IV for throwing a feast in a farmer’s house. Khosrow begs for his fathers forgiveness and repents for his actions. Once he does this, his father, Hormizd IV, forgives him.
That night, Anushirvan, the grandfather of Khosrow, visits Khosrow in his dreams. Anushirvan tells him about the future, about his future wife Shirin, a riding horse who goes by the name of Shabdiz, Barbad the musician and the great kingdom of Persia.
One fine day, a close friend and painter named Shapur tells Khosrow of a beautiful woman and Armenian princess named Shirin. Apparently, Shirin was the niece of Mahim Banu, the queen of Greece. Not only does Shapur give Khosrow information about Shirin’s whereabouts, but he also goes on and vividly describes her beauty. After listening to it all, Khosrow falls madly in love with Shirin.
That night, Anushirvan, the grandfather of Khosrow, visits Khosrow in his dreams. Anushirvan tells him about the future, about his future wife Shirin, a riding horse who goes by the name of Shabdiz, Barbad the musician and the great kingdom of Persia.
One fine day, a close friend and painter named Shapur tells Khosrow of a beautiful woman and Armenian princess named Shirin. Apparently, Shirin was the niece of Mahim Banu, the queen of Greece. Not only does Shapur give Khosrow information about Shirin’s whereabouts, but he also goes on and vividly describes her beauty. After listening to it all, Khosrow falls madly in love with Shirin.
The sculptor Farhad brought before Shirin, ca. 1400
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
H x W: 27.3 x 16.5 cm (10 3/4 x 6 1/2 in)
Smithsonian Institution
Detached folio from the Khusraw u Shirin by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; heading in gold; recto: illustration: The sculptor Farhad brought before Shirin; verso: text, 4 columns, 23 lines; one of a group of 7 detached folios (F1931-37) from the manuscript (F1931.29) and the book binding (F 1931.30); accessioned separately. More on this work
Unknown artist
Shirin Examines the Portrait of Khusraw, c. 1431
From the manuscript Khamsa by Nizami
Gouache,
23.7 x 13.7 cm
Timurid Dynasty, Iran
Hermitage Museum
Shortly after, Shapur embarks on a journey to Armenia in search of Shirin. Upon finding her, Shapur shows her the picture of Khosrow and she falls in love with him. She grew immensely passionate for Khosrow and fled Armenian to travel to Mada’in, Khosrow’s capital in search of her love Khosrow. Meanwhile, sadly, Khosrow has a falling out with his father, and in an attempt to flee from his father’s anger, Khosrow sets out on a journey of his own to Armenia in search of his love Shirin.
Khosrow Catches Sight of Shirin Bathing Nude, c. 1524-25
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
32.1 x 22.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Reza Derakshani (Iranian, b. 1952)
A Scene from 'Khosro and Shirin', c. 2007
Oil, encaustic and gold leaf on canvas, in two parts, laid down on canvas
702⁄3 x 783⁄8in. (179.5 x 199cm.)
Private collection
Reza Derakshani (Iran, born 1952)
Khosrow Catches Sight of Shirin Bathing Nude
A Scene from 'Khosrow and Shirin', circa early 2000's
Oil on canvas
160 x 125cm (63 x 49 3/16in).
Private collection
Reza Derakshani is painter, poet, musician and performance artist, born in Sangsar, Iran in 1952. He graduated from the University of Tehran in 1976 and pursued his studies at the Pasadena School of Art in California. He now lives and works between Dubai, UAE and Austin, USA.
After experimenting with pure abstraction at the beginning of his artistic career in the 1980's whilst being associated with the Neo-expressionists, Derakshani devised his personal artistic style blending abstract and figurative elements from both Western and Eastern cultures, thereby creating an idiosyncratic oeuvre at the confluence of civilizations. In his work, the artist explores the natural world, as well as emotional states and themes of exile and alienation. He builds up the luminous, textured surfaces of his paintings with a base of roof tar, after which he applies layers of color and other materials such as gold, silver, enamel, and sand.
His work features in many public art collections including The British Museum, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art; The Russian Museum in St Petersburg, Russia and the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany. In 2016, Derakshani has had two major solo exhibitions at The State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, Russia and at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany. More on Reza Derakshani
Both Shirin and Khosrow have a chance encounter each other midway through their journey. Khosrow happens upon Shirin while she was bathing naked and washing her hair in a stream. Unfortunately, Khosrow disguised himself in peasant clothes which made him unrecognizable for Shirin and Khosrow doesn’t recognize her as well. Upon reaching her kingdom in Armenia, the queen Shamira welcomes him, and he finds out that Shirin is in his capital town of Mada’in in search of him.
Artist unknown
Khusraw at the castle of Shirin, c. 14th century
Ink, gouache and gold on paper
height: 25.7 cm (10.1 in); width: 18.4 cm (7.2 in)
Freer Gallery of Art
THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SASANIAN KING KHUSRAU PARVIS AND BAHRAM CHUBINEH, TURKISH, c. 1580
Gouache heightened with gold on paper
20 by 19cm. leaf 23.5 by 20cm.
Private collection
Unknown artist
The Night Attack of Bahram Chubina on the Army of Khusraw Parvis, circa 1560
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold and silver on paper
16 11/16 x 10 5/8 in. (42.42 x 26.92 cm); Mat- 30 1/4 x 22 1/4 in. (76.84 x 56.52 cm)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
In Armenia, Shirin and Khosrow finally meet and Shirin welcomes him with open arms. However, Shirin declines the invitation to marriage and puts forth a condition. Until and unless Khosrow fights for his motherland and wins it back from general Bahram Chobin, she won’t marry him.
To win Shirin’s heart as well as his kingdom and Mada’in back, Khosrow leaves Armenia and set out to meet the Byzantine emperor Maurice, in Constantinople. The Caesar agrees to help him wage war and overthrow general Bahram Chobinl. Nevertheless, Caesar’s assistance came at a price. The Caesar’s clause was that he’d assist Khosrow only if Khosrow agrees to married Caesar’s daughter Mariam. Khosrow was also made to promise that he wouldn’t marry anyone else as long as his wife Mariam was alive. Khosrow agrees and with the help of Caesar, he overthrows the general Chobin and regains his throne.
Shaikh Zada (Iranian, active 1510–1550)
Khusrau Seated on his Throne, c. A.H. 931/1524–25 CE
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Page: H. 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm), W. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
Folio 64 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Seated on his throne under a colorful canopy, the king Khusrau Parviz holds court. Toward the middle of the composition, a pair of figures captures our attention. A bearded man holds an inscribed paper in one hand, while a young man applies ink to a seal ring on the other. This action likely identifies the bearded man as a chancery scribe, or courtier, entrusted with writing official correspondence and affixing the ruler’s seal. More on this painting
The Sasanian King Khusraw and Courtiers in a Garden, Page from a manuscript of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdawsi, late 15th-early 16th century
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
9 1/2 x 5 7/16 in. (24.1 x 13.8 cm)
Brooklyn Museum
The ruler, dressed in an elaborate headpiece, sits in a garden upon a raised, gilded throne, surronded by attendants courtiers, and musicians. Although the illustration appears to be somewhat generic—it could represent an enthronement setting for any given ruler—the text reveals that it actually illustrates an episode from the reign of the Sasanian king Khusraw (ruled 590–628) as recounted in the Shāhnāma. More on this painting
Farhad Carves a Milk Channel for Shirin
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
H. 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm), W. 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm)
Folio 74 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Metropolitan Museum of Art
When Shirin desires milk from a herd of goats that graze in a distant field, Farhad sets to work cutting a channel from the goats’ mountain pastureland to a pool at the foot of Shirin’s palace. In this painting, Shirin visits Farhad upon his completion of the pool. At the very top of the composition, a goat cavorts in its hillside home. More on this painting
While all this was happening, Farhad, a sculptor fell in love with Shirin and became Khosrow’s love rival. Khosrow couldn’t tolerate this and Farhad was then sent on on an exile to the Behistun mountain. Farhad is assigned a mammoth and impossible task of carving steps out of the cliff rocks.
Calligrapher: Ali ibn Hasan al-Sultani
Shirin visits the sculptor Farhad at work, ca. 1400
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art
Before beginning, Farhad carves the portraits of Shirin and Khosrow on the surface of the rock. Shirin travels to it to see the carvings, but faints with exhaustion and Farhad takes her back to the castle, carrying her on his back and riding his horse.
Shaikh Zada (Iranian, active 1510–1550)
Copied by Muhammed ibn Mulla Mir al-Hosseini, IranDetail; Farhad carrying Shirin and her horse, c. 1591
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on pape
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Later, Khosrow sends false news of Shirin’s death to the sculptor. When Farhad hears this news he is heart broken and decides to commit suicide by throwing himself off a cliff. Soon after Farhad dies, Mariam passes away too.
Though Khosrow is free to propose to Shirin, he first tries romancing a woman who goes by the name of Shekar in Isfahan. After some time goes by, his trials of intimacy with Shekar end and he finally embarks to Shirin’s castle to see her. When he arrives Shirin notices that Khusrow is drunk . Because of this, Shirin refuses his admission into the castle and makes her objects about his affair with Shekar known.
Disappointed and dejected, Khosrow returns to his own palace. Finally, after a few more heroic deeds and maneuvers, Shirin agrees to marry Khosrow.
Though Khosrow is free to propose to Shirin, he first tries romancing a woman who goes by the name of Shekar in Isfahan. After some time goes by, his trials of intimacy with Shekar end and he finally embarks to Shirin’s castle to see her. When he arrives Shirin notices that Khusrow is drunk . Because of this, Shirin refuses his admission into the castle and makes her objects about his affair with Shekar known.
Disappointed and dejected, Khosrow returns to his own palace. Finally, after a few more heroic deeds and maneuvers, Shirin agrees to marry Khosrow.
Marriage of Khusrau and Shirin
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
H. 7 in. (17.8 cm), W. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This painting depicts their marriage, set within a crystalline architectural composition. Great care is lavished upon the details of the building, suggesting that the artist may have intended to depict a specific structure. Over the heads of the couple appears an invocation to God—"Oh! Opener of Doors!" More on this painting
In 614 C.E., Khosrau II removed part of the true cross as a trophy, when he captured Jerusalem. Thirteen years later, in 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated Khosrau and retook the relic, which he at first placed in Constantinople, and later took back to Jerusalem in March 21, 630.
After the Byzantines killed Emperor Maurice, Khosrow II began a war in 602 against the Byzantines. Khosrow II's forces captured much of the Byzantine Empire's territories, earning the king the epithet "the Victorious".
Cenni Di Francesco Di Ser Cenni
Khosrow II Stealing True Cross, Scene from Stories of Cross, c. 1410
Fresco,
Chapel of the Holy Cross, Church of St Francis, Volterra, Tuscany
Cenni di Francesco ( 1369 – 1415 circa) is considered an eclectic painter. His first works are indebted to Orcagna and in general make use of gold backgrounds. According to Boskovits, the artist must have collaborated with Giovanni del Biondo at a time when he was most interested in issues of perspective. Also evident is the influence of Agnolo Gaddi. Cenni di Francesco’s figures have delicate, elegant features and elongated proportions, as evident in The Adoration of the Magi in San Donato in Polverosa, Florence. His work as an illuminator had a profound influence on his style, particularly in his marked sense of narrative, interest in detail and bright colouring. Cenni di Francesco’s late works combine Gothic elements with other, more traditional ones, as can be seen in The Virgin and Child with Saints (ca. 1400) in the Museo d’Arte Sacra di Montespertoli, and in his only signed work, namely the frescoes in the oratory of the church of San Francesco in Volterra of 1410, depicting The Legend of the True Cross. Other late works include the frescoes in San Lorenzo in Ponte, San Gemignano. More on Cenni di Francesco
In 614 C.E., Khosrau II removed part of the true cross as a trophy, when he captured Jerusalem.
A siege of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 626 was unsuccessful, and Emperor Heraclius, now allied with Turks, started a risky but successful counterattack deep into Persia's heartland. Supported by the feudal families of the empire, Khosrow II's son Sheroe (Kavad II) imprisoned and killed his father, Khosrow II. This led to a civil war and interregnum in the empire and the reversal of all Sasanian gains in the war against the Byzantines.
Battle between Heraclius and Chosroes, c. 1458 - 1466
The Legend of the True Cross
Fresco
329 x 747 cm
Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy
This artwork is a part of The Legend of the True Cross - a series of frescoes painted by Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. Not only is it his largest work, but it is also considered one of his finest, as well as one of the finest works of the Early Renaissance period. The theme of the frescoes was derived from a 13th century book on the lives of the Saints, and the Triumph of the True Cross, which was said to be the actual cross on which Christ was crucified. More on this work
Piero della Francesca (1415 – 1492) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The History of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo. More on Piero della Francesca
Netherlands Artist
Emperor Heraclius Slays the King of Persia, c. 1485–1495
Tempera and oil on panel
66.6 × 52.6 cm (26 1/4 × 20 7/8 in.)
Art institute of Chicago
Here Emperor Heraclius defeats a king who is probably meant to be the son of Chosroës. The emperor can be identified by the closed imperial crown that caps his helmet, the double-headed eagle symbol on the trumpet and the trappings of his followers’ horses, and the fact that he is about to behead his opponent. This narrative provides an excuse for a vivid display of armor and weaponry. More on this work
Heraclius Returns with The Cross, Folio 156r
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum
9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.8 x 16.8 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Limbourg brothers are the best-known of all late Gothic manuscript illuminators. They were among the first illuminators to render specific landscape scenes (such as the environs and appearance of their patron’s castles) with great accuracy and sensitivity. More on this work
Limbourg brothers
Heraclius Enters Jerusalem, Folio 156v
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum
9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.8 x 16.8 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
On Folio 156v, we see Heraclius, dismounted from his chariot, more humbly dressed, and carrying the cross on his back, with the gates of Jerusalem now open to receive emperor and cross. More on this work
But then, in an Oedipus like twist, Shiroy – Khosrow’s son from Mariam, falls in love with Shirin and murders his father, Khosrow, for her.
Unknown artist
Khusrau Parvîz, his hands bound, is led by two rustics wearing straw hats with high crowns, from a pavilion in a garden where he had taken refuge, 1616 - 1620
Manuscripts, Turkish
22 x 18.1 cm
The New York Public Library
The funeral procession of King Khosrow II, c. 1726
From a version of Nizami Ganjavi's 'Khusrau u Shirin', Mughal school
Shiroy then sends her a messenger instructing her that after a week of morning, she then must marry him. Heartbroken and unwilling to marry her son in law Shiroy, Shirin decides to kills herself.
After their deaths, Kushrow and Shirin finally become one and are buried together in a single grave. More on Khosrow and Shirin
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