Hindu Couple United on the Funeral Pyre

In this folio from Walters manuscript W.649, the young Hindu girl has thrown herself on her beloved's funeral pyre. The historic Hindu practice of self-immolation or widow-burning, called sati, was an uncommon subject for Persian literature. The painting was part of a series created to illustrate a poem written by Naw'i Khabushani (d. 1019 AH/AD 1610) about a girl betrothed, but whose to-be-husband dies before the marriage. The painting was produced in Iran, by Muhammad 'Ali Mashhadi in 1068 AH/AD 1657. According to the colophon, Ibn Sayyid Murad al-Husayni copied the manuscript for the painter Muhammad 'Ali, the "Mani of the time," as a "souvenir." The fact that the manuscript was produced for one of the most prolific artists of 17th-century Iran makes it a highly significant document. Source and folio description from Walters Art Museum