Sasanian art
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Sasanian art, or Sassanid art, was produced under the Sasanian Empire which ruled from the 3rd to 7th centuries AD, before the Muslim conquest of Persia was completed around 651. In 224 AD, the last P
Ardashir I receives the ring of power from Ahura Mazda.
Silver-gilt bowl with king hunting, a typical subject in Sasanian metalwork
Silver plate, 6th century
The Colossal Statue of Shapur I, r. AD 240–272
Colossal statue of Shapur I
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The colossal statue of Shapur I is a monumental sculpture depicting Shapur I, the second shah of the Sasanian Empire, carved from a single stalagmite. It stands in the Shapur cave, a huge limestone ca
Sasanian art
…greatly outnumbered by interior ones in plaster, of which only fragments have survived. Free standing sculptures are fewer than in Parthian art, but the Colossal Statue of Shapur I (r. AD 240–272) is a major exception, carved from a stalagmite grown in a cave; there are literary mentions of other colossal statues of kings, now…
Fallen statue of Shapur I, 1817
A reconstruction by George Rawlinson, 1876
Shapur statue with a man standing in front of it