Episodes from the Story of Siyavush (text, recto and verso), folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi

114 A–B Double page: The Trial by Fire of Siyavush A. Verso: text and illustration Folio: 34 × 21.4 cm (13 3/8 × 8 7/16 in.) 2002.50.30 B. Recto: text Folio: 34 × 21.5 cm (13 3/8 × 8 7/16 in.) 2002.50.130 The depiction of Prince Siyavush’s test by fire is here confined to a single page, rather than spread over two as in cat. 96 A–B. The scene is therefore predictably condensed, with Siyavush shown galloping into the fire while his father, also mounted, watches anxiously from the forecourt of his nearby palace. Peering from the window above is the would-be seductress, Sudaba, who gestures toward Siyavush. The handsome prince, his black mount, and the towering golden flames that engulf them are here closer to the center of the composition. Although hairstyles and headgear differ, the two versions of this scene in the Calderwood Collection feature similar architectural decoration. Furthermore, the compositional elements that they share irrespective of format suggest the existence of an established iconographic convention for illustrating this episode of the Shāhnāma. Mika M. Natif