Persian miniature of the prince
Bahram Gur introduced into the Hall of Seven Images,
from a copy of Nizami's poem "Haft Paykar" (Seven Pavilions)
in the Anthology of Iskandar Sultan, produced in Shiraz, Iran, 1410.
Illuminated manuscript, 24 x 15 cm.
The illustration here comes from a tale in which one day after hunting
the legendary Persian Prince Bahram enters a mysterious pavilion painted with
the images of seven beautiful princesses. Later in the poem, the prince, who has
fallen in love with these princesses (each from a different clime), marries them all
and installs them in separate pavilions. Each princess then tells him a story, in the
course of which she instructs him in a code of love and beauty.