Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh
Haftvad and the Worm
Folio detached from the Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh
Attributed to Dust Muhammad
Iran, Tabriz, ca. 1540
Opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper
AKM164
This painting illustrates the story of Haftvad, a modest man who rises to great power. After his daughter discovers a magical worm inside an apple that grants her enormous success as a spinner, Haftvad uses her wealth to found an entire city-state. His daughter and her team can be seen working at their spinning wheels in the painting’s lower left section. In the lower right, shopkeepers, labourers, and merchants bustle along the city walls. Above, an armed guard patrols the ramparts, scholars read from books, and a muezzin performs the call to prayer. Although Haftvad’s extraordinary rise to power is treated with suspicion in the Shahnameh, this illustration seems to celebrate the flourishing of his city. Using technological enhancement, this illustration’s complex details can be seen in three-dimensional space.