Siyavash Passing Through the Fire - Original Persian Miniature in Oil and Gold by Kamal al-Din Ghotb

The trial by fire from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Accused by his stepmother Sudabeh and given no other way to answer her, prince Siyavash rides in white through a mountain of burning wood, and comes out of it unburned. The painter tells it the way the old manuscripts do, as one continuous movement across the page: the same rider three times over, entering the fire at the left, carried through the heart of it in the centre with his arms open and his face lifted, and emerging at the right into a flowering spring landscape, unhurt.

Everything in the page is built around that passage. A great illuminated arch rises over the scene, its band of nasta'liq verse set in white cloud-reserves on gold, ringed in knotwork and orange arabesque, with blue-tipped finials radiating out into the lapis sky. Blue and white cloud scrolls run behind the flames. At the upper left a turquoise-domed tower carries a crowned figure at a latticed balcony, watching. In the left margin a sepia panel holds a winged dragon-creature in fine line; below it a grisaille drawing in the siyah-qalam manner shows the scene that made the fire necessary - the enthroned Kay Kavus with Sudabeh beside him, the mobads in conference, and Siyavash standing alone before the throne. Along the foot of the page, cartouches of Persian verse run on a ground of flowers. At the right, a blossoming tree on gold marks the far side of the ordeal.

Kamal al-Din Ghotb has practised Persian painting for 41 years. He trained at the School of Fine Arts, took his degree in painting at Azad University, and holds Iran's Grade One Artistic Degree, the national credential recognised as equivalent to a doctorate. The whole page is drawn and coloured by hand in oil and then lit with gold.

It is an intimate work, made to be hung where people stand close to it: a study, a reading corner, a hallway passed every day. The longer you look, the more it gives back.

Details

• Artist: Kamal al-Din Ghotb
• Medium: Oil and gold on paper, Persian miniature (negargari)
• Size: 40 x 30 cm (15.7 x 11.8 in)
• Year: 2026
• Subject: Siyavash passing through the fire, from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, with an illuminated verse arch, a siyah-qalam court panel and marginal calligraphy
• One of a kind: an original painting, hand-signed. No prints, no reproductions.

Shipping & care

Free, fully insured shipping to Canada (3 to 7 business days) and the USA (5 to 10). Every piece arrives with a Certificate of Authenticity and a 14-day trial: if it is not right for your wall, send it back for a full refund and we pay the return shipping. Keep the work out of direct sunlight and away from damp.