AKM448, The Cremation of Talkhand and the Grief of His Mother
© The Aga Khan Museum
AKM448, The Cremation of Talkhand and the Grief of His Mother, Back
© The Aga Khan Museum
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The Cremation of Talkhand and the Grief of His Mother
Folio from a manuscript of Shahnameh (Book of Kings) by Firdausi (d. 1020)
- Accession Number:AKM448
- Creator:paintings attributed to Mu‘in Musavvir (d. 1697)
- Place:Iran, Isfahan
- Dimensions:35.9 x 22.6 cm
- Date:1666-1667
- Materials and Technique:opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper
This scene depicts an event connected to the creation of the game of chess. The Indian queen has learned of her son Talkhand’s death at the hands of her other son, Gav. In a frenzy, she sets the palace on fire while raising a pyre upon which to annihilate herself. Gav tries to stop her by holding her back. To explain to his distraught mother the tragic events of the battle in which Talkhand died, he invents the game of chess.
— Filiz Çakır Phillip
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