TEHRAN -- A collection of illustrations created based on stories from the Shahnameh, the epic masterpiece of Persian poet Ferdowsi, are currently on display in an exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto. 

 

The exhibition, which will run until September 3, brings together the specimens preserved at McGill University, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the ROM.

 

The Shahnameh, a poem of nearly 60,000 couplets, is a history of the kings of Persia from mythical times down to the reign of Khosrow II (590–628).

 

Illustrated manuscript copies of the Shahnameh appeared at least in the middle of the Ilkhanid era. The Ilkhanids were a Mongol dynasty that ruled in Iran from 1256 to 1353.

 

The Royal Ontario Museum is among the world’s leading museums of natural history and of world cultures. Indeed, in combining a universal museum of cultures with that of natural history, the ROM offers an unusual breadth of experience to visitors and scholars from around the world. 

 

SB/YAW

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