The Sasanian prince who was later called Nushirvan, believed the popular religion of Mazdak to be an evil heresy. Thus he planted Mazdak's closest followers head down in a walled garden so that Mazdak might see the fruit of the evil seeds he had scattered. The prince then had a false prophet hanged upside down and slain with arrows, though no arrows are in sight here. Mazdak and an attendant look at the scene at right.
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Title:"The Execution of Mazdak", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Author:Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
Date:ca. 1330–40
Geography:Attributed to Iran, probably Isfahan
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper
Dimensions:Page: H. 8 1/16 in. (20.5 cm) W. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) Painting: H. 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm) W. 4 5/16 in. (10.9 cm)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Bequest of Monroe C. Gutman, 1974
Object Number:1974.290.37
The Execution of Mazdak
The heretic Mazdak had many converts, including the shah Qubad. Mazdak's son, who came to be called Nushirvan, believed that his father's new religion was evil and so convinced the shah. Thereupon Qubad turned Mazdak and his followers over to Nushirvan. Nushirvan planted the followers of Mazdak, head down like trees, within a walled garden, and invited Mazdak to observe the fruit that the seed he had scattered brought forth. Mazdak fainted at the sight. Then the prince ordered that a gibbet be set up and he had Mazdak hanged upside down and slew him with a volley of arrows.
The demise of Mazdak and his followers is graphically presented here. Against a red ground, the lower torsos of two figures, with their legs flopped over by the force of gravity, are shown planted in a garden at the left. The gate to the garden, indicating that it is walled, is placed in the center and decorated with a geometric pattern first found on an Iranian tomb tower of the eleventh century. Mazdak, hanging upside down, is being observed by Nushirvan and an attendant, but no arrows are in sight.
Close to each other in composition and iconography are the illustrations of this event in the First and Second Small Shahnamas. In both, five followers of Mazdak are shown planted, with waving legs, in a garden with no walls indicated. Mazdak, in the center of the picture, is seen hanging, right-side up, from a tree, and the prince is shown shooting him with arrows, two of which have already found their target.[1] These images in no way relate to the Gutman miniature. Mazdak's execution also appears in the 1333 Inju'id Shahnama in St. Petersburg. At the left is the brick gatehouse to the walled garden. Just inside the garden, Mazdak is hanging from a gibbet right-side up, seemingly free from arrow wounds, although some smudging makes it hard to be certain. His five followers, some with bent legs, some with legs straight, are planted in a line in the foreground. Above them are two mounted figures, presumably the prince and an attendant.[2] Exept for the red ground this painting has little in common with either the Gutman or the two Small Shahnama ones.
Mary Lukens Swietochowsky in [Swietochowsky and Carboni 1994]
Notes:
1. M. S. Simpson. The Illustration of an Epic: The Earliest Shahnama Manuscripts. New York, 1979, nos. 101 (Chester Beatty Library, Ms. 104.46), 102 (Minneapolis Institute of Art, 51.37.17).
2. A. T. Adamova and L. T. Giuzal'ian, Miniatiury rukopisi poemy "Shakhname" 1333 goda. St. Petersburg, 1985, no. 43.
Ph. Walter Schulz, Leipzig, Germany (by 1914); Professor O. Moll, Düsseldorf, Germany ; Monroe C. Gutman, New York (by 1929–d. 1974; bequeathed to MMA)
New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images: Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s," February 1–May 1, 1994, no. 43.
Schulz, Ph. Walter. Die Persisch-Islamische Miniaturmalerei. Vol. vols. I, II. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1914. vol. 1, pp. 14, 74–75, ill. vol. 2, pl. 15.
Masuya, Tomoko. "The Condition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Small Shahnama and the Reconstruction of its Text." In Poetry and Epic Images, edited by Marie Lukens Swietochowski, and Stefano Carboni. New York, 1994. pp. 129–45.
Swietochowski, Marie, Stefano Carboni, Tomoko Masuya, and Alexander H. Morton. Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images : Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 43, pp. 78, 120–21, ill. pl. 43 (color).
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
last quarter 15th century
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