Gayümarth, the first Persian Sultan, Enthroned

Gayümarth, the first Persian Sultan, Enthroned. H. 2160, 62b
26.5 by 18cm

Gayümarth, the first Persian Sultan, Enthroned (fig 26).
    When Gayümarth ascends the throne, the sun shines even more brilliantly, and the whole world is rejuvenated. Gayümarth and his men live in the mountains and wear animal skins. During his reign of thirty years he sets example of civilized living and is obeyed and respected even by wild beasts.
    The scene is set among violet colored mountains where Gayümarth sits barelegged on an animal skin. He wears a hat and clothes of leopard skin. Around him stand three bare legged men similarly dressed. Along the bottom of the miniature a tiger, a lion, a bear, a fox, a donkey, a horse, and a deer face the sovereign. On both sides of Gayümarth, rocky mountains, painted in gold, rise into the sky. Behind him is a partially covered tree protruding from the rocks. Short trees, bushes and tufts of grass have been scattered on the mountains. At the bottom on the left “amal-i Sunullah” (made by Sunnullah) has been added later.
    The scene is different from the usual enthronement scenes not only through the clothes and the presence of animals but also through the gestures of the men. The artist has thus triecl to recreate the atmosphere of the period of the first Shah. The animals surrounding him clearly indicate their obedience to him.
Source: Fig. 26, "Four Istanbul Albums and Some Fragments from Fourteenth-Century Shah-Namehs" by Nurhan Atasoy, pp. 19-48 in Ars orientalis; the arts of Islam and the East Vol. 8 (1970)