Fariborz Marries Ferangis
Fariborz, brother of Siyāvoš, and Ferangis, widow of Siyāvoš and mother of Kay Ḵosrow, are portrayed in conventionalized fashion seated alongside one another on the floor of a small pavilion in the upper left. They are embracing. Behind them is a multi-lobed arched panel delicately painted with foliage and birds, in the center of which is a tiled doorway. On either side of the painted panel are tiled columns which rise to a lintel of the same material, that is in turn surmounted by a bulbous tiled dome flanked by two pairs of cypress trees. Seven young ladies - musicians and attendants - are seated in a circle on the floor in the foreground. Two are holding tambourines, while a third holds a long necked flask. Spread on the floor between them are vessels of varying shape containing fruit, condiments, and beverage. Yet another maid-servant can be seen at an open doorway in the upper right.
There is one column of text consisting of two lines in the upper right, and another of identical size in the lower left. A rectangular ruled frame encloses painting and text except at the top where the bulbous dome, cypress trees, and small gazebo violate the frame and protrude into the upper margin. The painting is signed and dated in the lower margin, just to the right of center, in miniscule characters in Moʿin’s hand: raqam zad kamina moʿin-e moṣavver dar šahr-e ramażān al-mobārak ba etmām rasid 1065 (Drawn by the humble Moʿin Moṣavver. Completed in the month of Ramażān 1065/ July-Aug 1655).
Painting references:
Welch, AK4_1978, p.90, Ms.22, folio 151r (not ill.).
Text references:
Warner, III, pp.146-49; Mohl, III, p.54.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: July 6, 2011 | Originally published: July 6, 2011
