"Rostam Slaying the White Demon" tempera/gouache, Iran (Persia), Qajar School, circa 1850

"Rostam Slaying the White Demon" tempera/gouache, Iran (Persia), Qajar School, circa 1850.

Tempera/gouache on paper, 26 × 19 cm (image), 34.5 × 24 cm (support)

An illustrated fragment from a manuscript of the Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings"), the national epic of Iran composed by Abul-Qasim Firdausi around the year 1000. The scene depicts the celebrated episode of the confrontation between the hero Rostam and the White Div (White Demon), his victory symbolising the triumph of light over darkness and of order over chaos.

The work follows the established iconographic canon: Rostam, with his red turban and characteristic cuirass, slays the white-skinned demon in the presence of a female figure who witnesses the event. The vivid colours, the firm drawing and the expressiveness of the scenes are typical of the late Qajar miniature, when the tradition of illustrated manuscripts, already challenged by Western influences, was becoming a decorative art in its own right.

Leaves of this kind were produced both as an integral part of luxury manuscripts and as independent pieces intended for collectors or albums (muraqqa).