# "Isfandiyar's Third Course: He Slays a Dragon", Folio 434v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp

**Abu'l Qasim Firdausi** (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)  
ca. 1530  
Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper  
Painting: H. 11 in. (27.9 cm) W. 10 5/16 in. (26.2 cm) Page: H. 18 5/8 in. (47.3 cm) W. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm) Mat: H. 22 in. (55.9 cm) W. 16 in. (40.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.301.51. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452160).

## About this work

On the third of his seven trials, the prince Isfandiyar faces a dragon. He has a wooden carriage built and fitted with sharp blades, hides inside, and lets the beast swallow it whole; the blades cut the dragon from within, and Isfandiyar climbs out to finish it with his sword, though he is overcome for a time by its poisonous breath. The story, from Ferdowsi’s Shahnama, appears here on a page from the copy made for Shah Tahmasp around 1530, in which the court painters of Tabriz gave dragons coiling, richly patterned bodies drawn from Chinese art.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Abu'l Qasim Firdausi painted this in about 1530. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Opaque watercolour.** Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- **Ink on paper.** Ink made from soot and animal glue, ground with water on an inkstone. A single brush can give a hair-fine line or a broad wash, and nothing can be corrected.

### [Abu'l Qasim Firdausi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/abu-l-qasim-firdausi)

Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus

## Facts

- Type: Codices
- Real size: about 19 × 13 in (47 × 32 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 16th century
- Subjects: Men, Dragons, Horses, Carriages
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1234.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1234/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/isfandiyar-s-third-course-he-slays-a-dragon-folio-434v-from-met-452160).