Persian painted poems bring an ancient world to life

The artistic legacy of one of the world's greatest literary epics is the subject of a new exhibition at the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum. Documenting the history of the Shahnameh, or "Book of Kings", this landmark display features almost 100 illustrations from rare manuscripts spanning nearly eight centuries. Artworks inspired by this poem, which is regarded as Iran's 'national epic', have been gathered from the British Museum, the Bodleian Library and the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, making Epic of the Persian Kings: The Art of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh the most comprehensive display of its kind ever shown in Britain. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to explore history as seen through the eyes of Persian painters and the poet Ferdowsi, who completed this literary masterpiece in 1010 AD. Power, love and loyalty are all explored in this epic, which stretches back to the time of the mythical kings of the 4th century BC. Dragons and princes, battles and games of polo are depicted in luminously rich illustration, alongside ornate north Indian armour, daggers, ceramics and even an ornately tiled 19th-century table-top.