BATTLE SCENE FROM THE SHAHNAMEH (PERSIAN EPIC ILLUSTRATION)

A DYNAMIC 19TH-CENTURY PERSIAN PRINT ILLUSTRATING A DRAMATIC BATTLE SCENE FROM THE SHAHNAMEH, FERDOWSI’S EPIC OF KINGS. THE COMPOSITION IS DENSE WITH ACTION, FEATURING ARMOURED HORSEMEN, FALLEN WARRIORS, AND RANKS OF SOLDIERS RENDERED IN A HIGHLY DETAILED LINEAR STYLE. INTRICATE PATTERNING, EXPRESSIVE GESTURES, AND RHYTHMIC HATCHING CREATE A STRONG SENSE OF MOVEMENT AND NARRATIVE INTENSITY. THE SCENE EXEMPLIFIES THE TRADITION OF PERSIAN BOOK ILLUSTRATION, WHERE HEROISM, CONFLICT, AND MORAL DRAMA ARE VISUALLY INTERWOVEN. PRODUCED AS A LATE 19TH-CENTURY PRINT AFTER EARLIER MANUSCRIPT MODELS, THIS WORK REFLECTS THE ENDURING LEGACY AND POPULAR DISSEMINATION OF THE SHAHNAMEH IN PERSIAN VISUAL CULTURE AND IS A COLLECTIBLE EXAMPLE OF HISTORIC EPIC ICONOGRAPHY.