Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 21 hours ago

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Explore an exciting contemporary twist on centuries-old artistic traditions seen in Persian and South Asian illustrated manuscripts. This dynamic color print on paper by artist Hamid Rahmanian depicts a scene from a story told in the Shahnameh, or “Book of Kings”, a great Persian epic replete with tales from pre-Islamic oral tradition about semi-mythical kings, warriors, rivals, heroes, villains, and lovers, written into verse around 1010 by the poet Abu’l Qasim Firdawsi.

Join us as we dive into this image that recounts the last of seven trials performed by Rustam, the celebrated warrior-hero of the Shahnameh, before he can rescue his king from the hands of the White Div, or demon.

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