Iran receives Italian-made facsimile of the Shahnameh epic

Mohammad-Taqi Amini of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization presented an Italian-made facsimile of the Shahnameh to Iran’s Cultural Heritage Ministry in Tehran.

The project involved a collaboration between Italian specialists and Iranian authorities to recreate a rare and complete copy of the epic poem by Ferdowsi. Italian experts traveled to Tehran to examine the original manuscript kept at the Golestan Palace.

These teams studied the illustrations, portraits, and gilding of the original work to ensure the new reproduction remained faithful to the historical artifact. The project aimed to use Italian expertise in printing historical manuscripts to strengthen cultural ties between the two countries. The original 700-page manuscript is noted for its completeness and contains 22 miniature paintings. While other copies of the poem exist in museums in France, Italy, and the United States, the Golestan Palace version holds a special status.

The ministry plans to transfer the new facsimile to the World Heritage collection of the Golestan Palace and unveil it during a ceremony. The Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, contains approximately 50,000 couplets and serves as a cornerstone of Persian literature. It recounts the mythical and historical past of Iran and helps preserve the Persian language. Amini also announced plans to publish a collection of scholarly articles based on this joint project.