Lot 57
57
THREE FOLIOS FROM THE ISKANDARNAMA
THREE FOLIOS FROM THE ISKANDARNAMA
THREE FOLIOS FROM THE ISKANDARNAMA
2 More
THREE FOLIOS FROM THE ISKANDARNAMA
5 More
THE COLLECTION OF PAUL RICHARD LOEWI (1879-1939) AND HIS DAUGHTER ERICA (1918-1996)
THREE FOLIOS FROM THE ISKANDARNAMA

PROBABLY SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, CIRCA 1520

Details
THREE FOLIOS FROM THE ISKANDARNAMA
PROBABLY SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, CIRCA 1520
Three illuminated folios from the Khamsa of Nizami Ganjavi, opaque pigments heightened with silver and gold on paper, four columns of black nasta'liq above and below, the reverse with four columns black nasta'liq written on the horizontal and diagonal, set within gold and polychrome rules, margins cropped
Painting 5 1⁄8 x 3 7⁄8in. (13.1 x 9.9cm.); folio 7 1⁄4 x 4 3⁄8in. (18.3 x 11cm.)

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Lot Essay


The Iskandarnama is the romanticised telling of the life of Iskandar, or Alexander the Great. The tale is split into two parts, with the first, the Sharafnama, giving account of his life as a world conqueror. The second section, the Iqbalnama, is the story of Alexander as prophet, with less narrative and more stories from folklore and oral tradition (William Hanaway, al-Iskandar, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol.VIII, New York, 2001, Fasc. 6, oo.609-612). The present group all come from the Sharafnama.
This group comprises of:
1. Iskandar enthroned
3. Iskandar riding north to fight the Russians
3. A traveller is amazed by Mani's painting of a dead dog on the surface of a pool.

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