Great Ilkhanid Shahnama: Manuscript
Guided Questions:
Does this harm the meaning of the original object? Does it enhance the meaning of the broken object now that it is placed alone intentionally? Think about these questions as you browse through the objects - is this something that is unique to the Middle Ages? Or something that is also found now?
About this Illustration:
This is an illustration from a manuscript of the Great Ilkhanid Shahnama (Book of Kings) created in c. 1330/40 for the Mongol court. Now, the manuscript is dispersed across a number of collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Freer-Sackler Museum. Therefore, this object demonstrates the intentional dispersal of a manuscript as it was taken apart and sold off to many different museums and individuals. There seems to be no cultural or religious meaning behind this dispersal, as opposed to the relics, but there was likely an economical incentive to sell off a famous manuscript in the 14th century.