This illustrated page from a manuscript comes from the “Great Mongol Shahnama,” a copy of the Persian epic that was made between about 1330 and 1340. In the illustration on this page, the coffins of the hero Rustam and his brother are being carried by mourners. Behind them, the body of Rustam’s beloved horse is carried, draped across the back of an elephant. Leading the procession are men holding standards, a gold mace, and incense burners.
This copy of the Shahnama was produced for the Ilkhanid ruler Abu Saʿid (r. 1316 – 35). As foreign rulers of Iran, the Ilkhanid sultans sought to legitimize their authority through patronage of Iranian literature, art and architecture. This ambitious manuscript project exemplifies this behavior and at the same time it represents a remarkable moment in the Persian painting tradition, when Chinese and local motifs and techniques were being integrated with great creativity.
In the early twentieth century this manuscript was disassembled by an art dealer motivated by the higher market value of pages with paintings. The illustrated side of this page is intact. The reverse of the page, however, was split from the front and an irrelevant text was glued in its place.

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