This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

The Nightmare of Zahhak. Miniature from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp

Location:

Doha, Qatar

Holding Museum:

Museum of Islamic Art

About Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

Date of Object:

Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century

Museum Inventory Number:

MS.41.2007

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Opaque Watercolour, Gold, Paper, Ink; illustration, calligraphy

Dimensions:

Height: 47.2cm, Width: 32.1cm

Period / Dynasty:

Safavid

Provenance:

Iran, Tabriz

Description:

This Safavid folio once belonged to the so-called Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp (r. AH 930-984 / AD 1524-1576). It is probably the most luxurious and celebrated Shahnama manuscript ever produced for a royal patron. This painting depicts the tyrant Zahhak as he wakes up terrified from a nightmare announcing his death by the hands of the Iranian hero Faridun. His scream has awakened the entire palace. The Shahnama, composed in the AH 5th century / AD early 11th century, remains a nation epic of Iran.

How Object was obtained:

Presented in 1568 by Shah Tahmasp to the Ottoman sultan Selim II (r. AH 930-984 / AD 1524-1576); Collection of Baron Edmund de Rothschild, 1903–1934; then by descent to Baron Maurice de Rothschild, 1934–1957; Arthur A. Houghton Jr, 1958–1977; Stuart Cary Welch Collection (on loan to Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1983–2007); sold to Qatar Museums

Selected bibliography:

Gonnella, Julia, et al., Museum of Islamic Art: The Collection, London: Thames & Hudson, 2022.

Chekhab-Abudaya, Mounia and Tugwell, Julia, Imperial Threads: Motifs and Artisans from Turkey, Iran and India, Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2017.

Soueif, Ahdaf, Reflections on Islamic Art, Doha: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, 2011.

Watson, Oliver, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2008.

Citation of this web page:

Tara Desjardins "The Nightmare of Zahhak. Miniature from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;qt;Mus21;19;en

Prepared by: Tara Desjardins

MWNF Working Number: QT 19