Item PY3

Dimensions: 48 x 24 cm.  This vintage print has some slight wear around the edges of the border due to age; this does not affect the actual image and will not be visible once the print is properly matted and framed.

The caption on the bottom of the print reads as follows:

Victory of Bahram II, Naqsh-e Rajab, Fars

Sassanian relief work demonstrates little of the simplified elegance engendered in similar works by their Achaemenian predecessors.  The greater depth of the carvings is belied by less realistic representations, and while all the symbolic elements are in place, there is none of the understated power that imbues the Achaemenian reliefs with their special magic.  Here, effect is achieved by enhancing the depiction of the king in triumph at the head of a column of prisoners.  His supremacy is emphasized by the depth of the relief in which he is portrayed, which becomes progressively shallower as as the following column is depicted.  The effect, almost that of perspective, creates the impression of a far greater crowd than the nine or so figures that can actually be counted.