The First Adventure of the White Horse, Page from the Khan Khanan's Razm Nama (Book of Wars)c. 1610–17 · Study 1964.52

Context from the museum

After the five Pandava brothers defeated their cousins, the oldest, who became king, performed an ancient Vedic ritual known as the horse sacrifice in order to determine the physical extent of his rule. For one year a horse wanders freely around the country, attended by warriors, and every land through which the horse passes becomes part of the king’s territory. The warriors go to battle with any local resistance. In this case, the warrior following the horse is Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers. He has encountered the son-in-law of the god of fire, Agni, who creates a river of fire to block the warriors. In a dramatic composition set on the banks of the swirling golden river of fire, running diagonally down the page between multicolored rocky outcrops, Arjuna, dark-skinned and crowned, pleads with Agni, the god of fire. He prays that the horse be allowed to pass, saying that the horse sacrifice is in accordance with sacred Vedic injunctions, and that at the end of the year, the horse will be sacrificed to him, the god of fire himself.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected overall measurement for The First Adventure of the White Horse, Page from the Khan Khanan's Razm Nama (Book of Wars) is 22.4 cm wide and 38 cm high, equivalent to approximately 8.8 × 15.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.59:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.09 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 7.5% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 138.8 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With The First Adventure of the White Horse, Page from the Khan Khanan's Razm Nama (Book of Wars) in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 22.4 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?