With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Epic artwork of the Persian Book of Kings

The Epic of the Persian Kings exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge features illustrations inspired by the Shahnameh - poet Ferdowsi's Book of Kings - on its 1,000th anniversary.

In Persian literature it's a given that the Shahnameh - Book of Kings - is a timeless classic; In the West however the work is probably less well-known now than in Victorian times.

A new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge focuses on the gorgeous artwork the Shahnameh has inspired over the centuries.

The work was completed exactly 1,000 years ago by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, who dedicated his life to crafting its 60,000 verses....
Read entire article at BBC