AN ALBUM PAGE WITH RUSTAM APPROACHING A CASTLE DURING A BATTLE
Safavid Iran, 17th century, the calligraphy dated 1086 AH (1675)

Opaque pigments, pencil, ink, white wash, and gold on paper, the cropped vertical composition depicting the Persian hero Rustam on his steed Rakhsh approaching a castle during a siege, a rider shooting an arrow in the direction of another soldier at the top of the castle throwing boulders at him, Rustam shown in the foreground dragging two military prisoners behind him, the rendering of the architecture and decorative geometric designs in line with Safavid paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries, the scene framed within four calligraphic cartouches of bold black ink nasta'liq script alternating blue and white cloudbands against purple and orange grounds, the top calligraphic panel signed Muhammad Shafi' al-Tabrizi and dated 1086 AH (1675), set on an album page with concentric borders and rules in polychromes, the page 36.8cm x 24.4cm.