 A larger image of the story of the horse and the boar, from the Sulwan Al-Muta' of Ibn Zafar, c.1335 AD. Mamluk Egypt circa 1335 AD Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper H: 24.9 W: 17.6 cm Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. F1954.1 |
The Sulwan al-muta' (Solace of Pleasure), composed in 1159 by Ibn Zafar of Sicily, is a series of animal fables illustrating the consequences of human behavior. Written as a moral and ethical guide, it relates closely to the Kalila va Dimna, one of the most frequently illustrated texts of the medieval Muslim world.The painting relates to a story about the effects of corruption and lying. According to the text, a horse, the embodiment of the liar's soul, crosses a river. His saddle and collar swell with water and almost suffocate him. The horse asks a passing boar for help. Not satisfied with the horse's explanation for his pitiful condition, the boar considers him guilty of some wrongdoing and leaves the animal to his fate.
The text does not mention the turbaned man on the right, perhaps the narrator.