Demotte Shahnameh

Demotte Shahnameh^[1] is an illustrated manuscript of Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran. It is the oldest survived illustrated manuscript of Shahnameh. According to Iranica, "It is generally believed to have been produced for a patron associated with the Il-khanid court and is renowned for the quality of its paintings". According to Mohammad Ghazvini it has been written in 700 AH and it's miniatures are from half century later. Most scholars believe that this manuscript dates from mid 8th century AH. It was once kept in Golestan Palace, but at the time of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, when the county was in chaos, it was stolen from there by a certain Demotte (a man from Paris). Demotte presented this manuscript to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, but the museum didn't accept it. Demotte then splited the miniatures and sold them and lost other papers. Currently, 77 miniatures from this manuscript have been identified in museums around the world.^[2]

References

1. "DEMOTTE ŠĀH-NĀMA". Retrieved 17 February 2016.
2. Riahi, Mohammad Amin. Ferdowsi, his life, poems and his thoughts. p. 372.