Taynush before Iskandar and the visit to the Brahmans, folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection, Purchase—Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.105.1.

Zoom Talk: Alexander the Great between East and West
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
12-1pm

Throughout history, many authors have recounted Alexander the Great’s deeds and quests, real or fictional. In Iran, Alexander is known as Iskandar, and because of his Persian ancestry he is recognized as a legitimate ruler. In Europe, he is a model of virtue and piety for Christian rulers. In both traditions, Alexander is a relentless adventurer who journeys to the end of the world in an unsuccessful quest for immortality.

Join curator Simon Rettig and professor Mark Cruse as they explore Alexander’s centrality in the cultures of the global late Middle Ages, focusing on fourteenth-century illustrated manuscripts of Firdawsi’s Shahnama (Book of kings) and copies of the Romance of Alexander from the contemporaneous Latin West.

This program is held in conjunction with their exhibition An Epic of Kings: The Great Mongol Shahnama, now on view through January 12, 2025.

To learn more and register, click here.