Eskandar Attends the Dying Dārā
The painting depicts the dying Dārā (Darius III) outstretched on the ground near the center of the composition. He is fully clothed but not in battle dress; his crown is still on his head, his sword and shield at his side. Eskandar (Alexander the Great) kneels on the ground cradling Dārā’s head in his lap. Behind him, on the far right, are two turbaned dignitaries. Five soldiers, dressed in battle gear, stand off to the left; two have removed their helmets in respect. In the foreground, their lower extremities cropped by the frame, are two more bareheaded individuals, who make gestures of grief but really do not appear grief stricken. A single groom with two mounts stands in the right background under a single tree that grows on a small hill in the center background.
Painting: 24.3 x 11.4 cm. Outer frame: 28.5 x 14.0 cm. Twenty-five lines of text, written on a diagonal across the top and halfway down the left side. Twenty-three lines of text plus one chapter heading, also written on a diagonal but on the opposite incline, commence at the midpoint on the left side and continue to the bottom, and then across the bottom. Additionally, there are four columns of horizontal text consisting of two or three lines each above and below the painting. In the center of the lower margin, written in Moʿin’s hand, is the signature raqam-e kamina moʿin-e moṣavver. The painting is in good Moʿin style.
Cf. Ms.G, f.292 for another depiction by Moʿin of this same episode.
Location:
Present whereabouts unknown.
Painting references:
Sotheby's London, Sale Catalog 19 April 1983, Lot 119 (ill.)
Text references:
Warner, VI, pp.52-55; Mohl, V, pp.70-73; Levy, p.236.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: March 31, 2011. Originally published: March 31, 2011
