Artwork story
About "The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", Folio from a Falnama (Book of Omens)
The artist and artwork
An unidentified painter created The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the 1550s, probably at Qazvin. The page belonged to a Falnama, or Book of Omens, and was painted in ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. It shows seven Christian men escaping persecution inside a cave, where a miraculous sleep carries them across centuries. The maker's name is unknown, so the scale, materials, and storytelling, not an invented biography, are evidence of a manuscript workshop.
The world around it
The folio was made during the reign of the Safavid shah Tahmasp, when illustrated books stood at the center of courtly art. Safavid Iran had established Shi'a Islam as its state religion while facing powerful Sunni neighbors. Ottoman incursions pushed the capital from Tabriz to Qazvin in 1555. In that charged world, a Falnama joined spectacular pictures to written auguries: a reader opened the book for guidance, and this image faced a text page giving a positive omen.
A detail to notice
The painting divides noise from stillness. Armed men, banners, a horse, and sharply colored rocks crowd the cave's exterior; inside, seven sleepers rest in a dark pool of quiet beside their curled white dog, Qitmir. The Met identifies the crowned rider as most likely the Roman emperor Decius, who persecuted them. More startlingly, Satan leads him, wearing a winged white headdress with a serpent emerging from his neck. Pink, blue, and orange stones close around the sleepers like a jeweled shell while danger circulates along the edges. According to the story, they sleep for 309 years. Their impossible calm makes the favorable augury visible before its words are read: danger is abundant, but it cannot enter the black shelter at the center.
Look closer: materials, scale, and subjects
The recorded object is folio from an illustrated manuscript made in Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper and held in the Islamic Art department.
Recorded dimensions include Painting: H. 23 in. (58.4 cm); W. 17 3/4 in. (45.1 cm); Mat : H. 28 in. (71.1 cm); W. 22 in. (55.9 cm); Frame: H. 30 1/2 in. (77.5 cm); W. 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm).
Subject terms include Birds, Swords, Sleeping, Men, Dogs, and Horses. Treat them as guideposts, not a complete interpretation.
Collection history and public-domain source
The collection credit line is Rogers Fund, 1935.
The individual artwork page and official image were verified as Public Domain on 2026-08-23.
No Context Gallery independently uses the public-domain image. The source museum has not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated itself with these products.
Research sources
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