These are images from a recently-found completely unrecorded Shahnameh in British Library collection. This copy of Shahnameh is probably from 1640, illustrated by by Muhammad Yusuf, a prolific artist during the reigns of the Safavid rulers Shah Safi (r. 1629-42) and Shah Abbas II (r. 1642-66).
For ages the battle of Rostam and White Deev has been one of the most popular subjects among Iranian book illustrators, tile-makers, and coffee-house painters.
The painter and Illustrator Mohammad Tajvidi was born in 1925. After completing his studies at the School of National Arts, he took the position of assistant professor at the school. He was promoted to a senior professorship continued teaching until 1963.
Later he started making illustrations for hundreds of books. He died in Tehran in 1995 at the age of 70.
In the 11th century, an Iranian known as Ibn Bakhtishu was a physician to the Abbasids in Baghdad. He compiled information about various animals and their uses. Two centuries later the work was translated from Arabic into Persian and illustrated with beautiful miniatures. Today The Morgan Library & Museum is home to this important Persian manuscript, which is regarded by experts as one of the greatest of all Iranian manuscripts.
