Muzaffar 'Ali
This scene comes from the Shahnama, Persia's national epic poem of kings and battles, and it drops us into a moment of real crisis: Khusrau Parviz, heir to the Sasanian throne, fleeing a rebel general named Bahram Chubina, who's trying to seize the crown for himself. Cornered in a mountain gorge with nowhere left to run, Khusrau prays ... and Surush, an angel figure from Zoroastrian tradition who acts as a messenger between God and mortals, appears and spirits him to safety. He is so beautiful!
The creator of this miniature, Muzaffar 'Ali, was the great-nephew to Bihzad, Persia's most celebrated miniature painter, and while the family talent shows, his own style breaks from Bihzad's rich, saturated color in favor of paler washes and rocks that seem to explode outward in every direction; it is chaos built right into the landscape itself.
Have a great Monday!
P.S. Here's some more outstanding Persian miniature painting!