Bahram Gur Punishing Azadeh
Date1341?
Maker
Persian
Label TextPrince Bahram Gur once fell in love with a lyre-playing slave girl named Azadeh. In the Sasanian Empire of ancient Persia (Iran), this was as unlikely—and unacceptable—as you would expect. The playboy prince took his beloved on a ride through the wilderness, and tried to impress her with his prowess as a hunter. A playful girl, she challenged the prince to an impossible feat of archery: binding two animals together with a single arrow. Surprised by his subsequent success, Azadeh broke into tears at the violence of the act. Enraged by her reaction—it was her challenge, and who was a slave girl to laugh at a prince, after all—Prince Bahram Gur decided to avenge his honor by trampling Azadeh with his mount. He never spoke of her again.
Object number52.41
Published ReferencesRogers, Millard B. "Engagement Book: Iranian Art in the Seattle Art Museum," Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1972, fig. 40.Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions11 7/16 x 9 5/8 in. (29 x 24.5 cm)
MediumOpaque watercolor and ink on paper
Mukhlis and Madhva Khurd
ca. 1570
Object number: 68.160
Mughal
late 16th century
Object number: 46.28
Persian
18th century
Object number: 42.12.2
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