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Original fileKhusrau and the Milk Canal
Khusrau stand on either side of the canal built to supply Shirin with the milk of goats and cows, taken from the Khamseh of Nizami
About This Work
In a lush green landscape, a man dressed in a red coat and white trousers (the shepherd) stands by a dark, winding stream, gesturing toward a white rectangular and octagonal canal system filled with white fluid representing milk. Opposite him, the king Khusrau, wearing a dark red tunic with golden embroidery and a white turban, extends his hands in a gesture of conversation. Above them, steep, stylized, multi-colored rock formations contain two niches depicting miniature palace scenes, while several goats graze on a hillside dotted with trees and flowering shrubs. The painting is set against a gold-leaf background framed by an ornate blue floral border.
This scene illustrates an episode from the 'Khosrow and Shirin' narrative within the 'Khamseh' (Quintet) of the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The milk canal is a legendary feat of engineering attributed to Farhad or Khusrau to win the favor of the princess Shirin.