Farhad carving Shirin's portrait

Dateprobably 18th century

Label TextThis folio illustrates a scene from the masnavi (a particular poetic form) titled Khusrou and Shirin, in which the titular characters fall in love but only after a series of events are able to marry. During one of these interludes, a sculptor named Farhad becomes enamored with Shirin. In his passionate yearning for her, Farhad sculpts an image of her as he tunnels through a mountain. In this folio, the artisan shows Farhad sculpting Shirin onto a flat rock face instead of the interior of a mountain wall. The viewer is better able to see Farhad carefully carving the portrait, which he props upright using the weight of his feet and the trunk of a tree. The artisan, whose signature reads Behzad on the turban of Farhad, plays with the mediums of calligraphy, painting, and sculpture, showing the permeability of these forms.

An obstacle to the happiness of the star-crossed lovers Khusrau and Shirin was Farhad, a stonemason, who upon seeing the beautiful Shirin from afar fell in love with her. The news of his love reached Khusrau, by now married to Shirin, and he decided to test Farhad's love with an impossible task: he promised Farhad he could have Shirin if he could tunnel a path through Mount Bisitun to bring milk for Shirin's bath.

Farhad undertook the task with great zeal and alarmed Khusrau when he came close to completing it. Khusrau crushed Farhad's hopes of winning the love of the princess by telling him that Shirin was dead. Devastated and heartbroken, Farhad plunged his own axe into his head and died.

Before Farhad undertook the challenge to tunnel through Mount Bisitun, he carved a portrait of his beloved. In one version of the tale he actually carved her likeness into the mountain so that he could see her face every day. In this image, however, he creates a freestanding portrait of Shirin, working intently in a garden setting, with his stone-carving tools scattered on the ground around him. This image probably does not reflect artistic practice in an accurate way. The scene's composition, however, helps to emphasize the physical closeness of the sculptor to the object of his devotion, and the care and attention to detail lavished on the portrait serve as a substitute for Farhad's unattainable love.

Object number40.37

ProvenancePurchased from David Benzaria, New York, New York, January 5, 1940

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 16 - Dec. 5, 2021].

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

Dimensions6 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (15.8 x 8.9 cm)

MediumOpaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper