Story of Haftvad c. 1300

ink, color-on-paper

aged paper

toned paper

water colours

handmade artwork painting

oil painting

ink

tile art

color-on-paper

coffee painting

watercolour bleed

watercolour illustration

watercolor

This illustration from a manuscript, created around 1300, depicts a scene from the "Story of Haftvad" (Seven Princes). While the artist remains anonymous, their detailed style, showcasing the use of vibrant colors and gold accents, is characteristic of Persian manuscript painting. The narrative imagery is complemented by Persian script surrounding the miniature, adding to the text's rich storytelling tradition.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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A group of women spin cotton outside the village of Kerman. The setting, with gold sky and fantastical landscape, shows the influence of Chinese painting, brought to Persia with Mongolian rule. This scene, identified in the text at the top of the page, foreshadows the story of Haftvad, a modest man whose daughter, seen at the far right, discovers a worm while biting into an apple. Considering it a lucky charm, she keeps the worm in her spindle case and soon begins spinning miraculous quantities of cotton. Recognizing this good fortune, Haftvad takes the worm and nurtures it until it grows to the size of an elephant. As the worm grows, so does Haftvad’s wealth and power. Eventually, King Ardeshir grows envious and comes to Kerman, where he defeats Haftvad and kills the worm.