Farhad Kills Himself After Hearing the False News of Shirin’s Death
Medium
gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
page: 29.8 × 19.6 cm · miniature: 28.6 × 17.8 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2018.198
Tags
male
About this artwork
A man’s lifeless body is being observed by a group of women. A kneeling woman with a halo and wearing fine garments is Shirin, the beloved of the dead man, Farhad. Farhad cut a canal of milk through a mountain pass as a proof of his love, but on hearing the false news of her demise, he jumped off the mountain and killed himself.