"Sakyamuni (Buddha) Announces Another Prophet", Folio from a Majma al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories)

Hafiz-i Abru

ca. 1425 · Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper · Islamic Art

This painting illustrates a passage of the "Compendium of History", which Hafiz-i Abru composed by the order of Shah Rukh, the Timurid ruler of Herat. The text narrates the story of Sakyamuni, a name for Buddhha, who with his followers and servants goes through the jungle. When they see a bird in its nest in a tree, the men decide to repose in the tree’s shade. There, Buddha answers his followers’ questions: ‘who will proceed you as the next prophet?’ and ‘what will he be like?’.

Artist

Hafiz-i Abru

Date

ca. 1425

Medium

Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Cora Timken Burnett Collection of Persian Miniatures and Other Persian Art Objects, Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956