Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp

Shah Ismail I was a charismatic and militarily aggressive leader, which allowed him to conquer large swaths of territory with cosmopolitan populations.

[2][3] He commissioned the most prominent artists of Safavid Iran, to illustrate this manuscript as a demonstration of the shift in political landscape and as an assertion of his dominance as the Shah.

A commission of the Shahnameh was a common way to assert legitimacy as a ruler because the text portrays the shah as a strong, stable individual who was to be unquestionably obeyed and respected.

[4] Such an expensive and lavishly decorated manuscript would have presented Ismail I as a successful and powerful leader tied to the strength and notoriety of the Iranians.

Most likely, the manuscript was either intended to ultimately be given as a gift to Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, or perhaps to celebrate the return of his son Tahmasp from a period as governor of Herat.

Ottoman sources reveal that it arrived at the Iranian Embassy in February 1568, accompanied by 34 camels and other lavish gifts intended for the sultan.

[18] Houghton kept 118 miniatures for himself, donated 78 paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1972 and sold the rest to other privately and publicly owned collections around the world.

Tabriz was the former capital of the Turkmen rulers, successively of the Kara Koyunlu and Ağ Qoyunlu, who had ruled much of Persia before Ismail I defeated them and began the Safavid dynasty in 1501.

"[29] Dust Muhammad's account also emphasizes the astonishing talents of portrait artists Aqa Mirak and Mir Musavvir, who also illustrated the Khamsa of Nizami.

[30] A famous unfinished miniature showing Rostam asleep, while his horse Rakhsh fights off a lion, was probably made for the manuscript, but was never finished and bound in, perhaps because its vigorous Tabriz style did not please Tahmasp.