The Painting on Ivory depicts King Khosrow and Queen Shirin in the Garden Court and was constructed by Persian Rovhani during the 20th century. The lively scene makes its presence known in that it is vivid in its use of color yet uniform all the same, the text is included around the images rather than the other way around, and the individual events are separated into discrete horizontal sections yet are woven together seamlessly into the fabric of the scene. In addition, the narrative of the scene downplays the trials and tribulations of the courtship, perhaps because Nizami chose to focus on and highlight the romantic aspect of the tale.
At first glance, one notices the conspicuous woman towards the top of the image, who is clad in blood …show more content…
Born to the king of the Sasanian empire ca 570, Khosrow had quite large shoes to fill. In a dream, his grandfather appeared and told him of several things, one of which was the premonition of the young lad’s future wife, Shirin. The prince’s confidante tells him of Shirin and her beauty, and the prince is besotted. Meanwhile, the confidante has already traveled to Armenia to find the niece of the queen, Shirin. Shirin falls in love with Khosrow after seeing his image and thus, their journey began. A series of unfortunate events separated them, one after another, and it so ends up that as one sets out to find the other in their homeland, so too does the other; thus, they never end up meeting for a long time. Finally they meet in Armenia. Distracted by his beloved, Khosrow fails to protect his kingdom, and loses it to the general Bahram Chobin. Unhappy with this outcome, Shirin firmly states that she will not accept Khosrow’s proposal unless he rightfully regains power of his kingdom. In order to secure the military aid of Caesar of Constantinople, he must wed the Caesar’s daughter, Maryam. He is also forced to promise that he will not marry any other woman as long as Maryam is alive. Although he has fulfilled his end of the bargain by repossessing the throne, he cannot return to Shirin. As time goes by, Shirin waits for her beloved, but he does not arrive; then enters Farhad, a sculptor who tries to woo her. Khosrow hears of this potential suitor, and creates a misunderstanding surrounding Shirin’s existence; subsequently, Farhad commits suicide. Sometime later, Maryam also succumbs to death (and another version of the tale suspected that Shirin poisoned her). Now that Maryam is dead, and Farhad is out of the picture, the path to Shirin seems clear; however, Khosrow is enticed by another woman during his travels to Armenia. At last, Khosrow appears in front
At first glance, one notices the conspicuous woman towards the top of the image, who is clad in blood …show more content…
Born to the king of the Sasanian empire ca 570, Khosrow had quite large shoes to fill. In a dream, his grandfather appeared and told him of several things, one of which was the premonition of the young lad’s future wife, Shirin. The prince’s confidante tells him of Shirin and her beauty, and the prince is besotted. Meanwhile, the confidante has already traveled to Armenia to find the niece of the queen, Shirin. Shirin falls in love with Khosrow after seeing his image and thus, their journey began. A series of unfortunate events separated them, one after another, and it so ends up that as one sets out to find the other in their homeland, so too does the other; thus, they never end up meeting for a long time. Finally they meet in Armenia. Distracted by his beloved, Khosrow fails to protect his kingdom, and loses it to the general Bahram Chobin. Unhappy with this outcome, Shirin firmly states that she will not accept Khosrow’s proposal unless he rightfully regains power of his kingdom. In order to secure the military aid of Caesar of Constantinople, he must wed the Caesar’s daughter, Maryam. He is also forced to promise that he will not marry any other woman as long as Maryam is alive. Although he has fulfilled his end of the bargain by repossessing the throne, he cannot return to Shirin. As time goes by, Shirin waits for her beloved, but he does not arrive; then enters Farhad, a sculptor who tries to woo her. Khosrow hears of this potential suitor, and creates a misunderstanding surrounding Shirin’s existence; subsequently, Farhad commits suicide. Sometime later, Maryam also succumbs to death (and another version of the tale suspected that Shirin poisoned her). Now that Maryam is dead, and Farhad is out of the picture, the path to Shirin seems clear; however, Khosrow is enticed by another woman during his travels to Armenia. At last, Khosrow appears in front