Rostam's Seventh Feat: He Slays the White Demon

The div’s dark cave is shown on the left. In order to reveal the inside, the artist has diagrammatically removed the front, so that the observer views the cave as a roughly circular black area surrounded by jagged rock formations. Within the black area, Rostam, dressed in his traditional leopard-skin headdress and tiger-skin coat, has already wrestled the white div to the ground. With his right hand he holds the div by the horn, presses his knee to the div’s chest, and with his left hand plunges a dagger into his adversary’s stomach. Blood gushes forth and the div is clearly finished. The div is portrayed as a spotted, white humanoid, with an animal head, horns, and long ears, wearing only a skirt and bracelets. One of its legs has already been severed, and lies detached from its body. On the right is the trunk of a tree which spreads its foliage into the right margin. Bound to the trunk of this tree is Owlād, portrayed bareheaded as a prisoner. Rostam’s horse Raḵš and groom observe the event from the upper left..

Page: 35.2 x 21.5 cm.
Painting: 20.0 x 18 cm.
Text area: 28.5 x 14.3 cm.
Four-column text of fifteen lines located above the painting; text written on a diagonal across the top and down the right side. Gilt interlinear decoration permeates the text. The painting is signed in the lower margin, raqam-e kamina moʿin-e moṣavver.

For other versions of this subject paintied by Moʿin see ms.A folio 79a and ms.C folio 64r.

Location:
Current whereabouts unknown

Painting references:
Sotheby's London 30 April 2003 lot 31

Text references:
Warner, II, pp.59-61; Mohl, I, p.426.

Robert Eng
Last Updated: May 15, 2012 | Originally published:May 15, 2012