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"Timur before Battle", Folio from a Dispersed Copy of the Zafarnama (Book of Victories) of Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi

839 AH/1436 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 455
This folio once illustrated a manuscript of the Zafarnama, a biography of the ruler Timur commissioned by his grandson Ibrahim Sultan (1394–1435). The painting, from a manuscript completed a year after Ibrahim Sultan’s death, depicts the arrival of the Timurid army before the castle of Gortin in Georgia on Friday, 14th of Muharram, 806 A.H. (August 3, 1403 A.D.). This date, which appears on the other side of the folio, has made it possible for scholars to identify the scene.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Timur before Battle", Folio from a Dispersed Copy of the Zafarnama (Book of Victories) of Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi
  • Author: Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi (Iranian, Yazd 1370s–1454 Yazd)
  • Calligrapher: Ya'qub ibn Hasan, known as Siraj al-Husaini (active Shiraz, Iran)
  • Date: 839 AH/1436 CE
  • Geography: Made in Iran
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: H. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm)
    W. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1955
  • Object Number: 55.121.16
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

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"Battle Scene", Folio from a Zafarnama (Book of Victories) of Sharaf al-Din 'Ali Yazdi, Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi Iranian, Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper
"Battle Scene", Folio from a Zafarnama (Book of Victories) of Sharaf al-Din 'Ali Yazdi
Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi
1485–86
"Siege of Baghdad", Folio from a Dispersed copy of the Zafarnama (Book of Victory) of Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi, Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi Iranian, Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
"Siege of Baghdad", Folio from a Dispersed copy of the Zafarnama (Book of Victory) of Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi
Multiple artists/makers
Dhu'l Hijja 839 AH/June–July 1436 CE
"Conquest of Baghdad by Timur", Folio from a Zafarnama (Book of Victory), Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi Iranian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Conquest of Baghdad by Timur", Folio from a Zafarnama (Book of Victory)
Multiple artists/makers
Dhu'l Hijja 839 AH/June–July 1436 CE
"The Feast of Sada", Folio 22v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, Abu'l Qasim Firdausi Iranian, Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper
"The Feast of Sada", Folio 22v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
Sultan Muhammad
ca. 1525
"Isfandiyar's Third Course: He Slays a Dragon", Folio 434v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, Abu'l Qasim Firdausi Iranian, Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper
"Isfandiyar's Third Course: He Slays a Dragon", Folio 434v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi
Qasim ibn 'Ali
ca. 1530

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