WASHINGTON, DC.- Intricately detailed and sumptuously painted images of kings, heroes and mythological creatures from the Shahnama, Iran’s national epic and one of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces, is on view in “Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings” at the Sackler Gallery Oct. 23 – April 17, 2011. Completed in ca. 1010 by the poet Firdawsi, the Shahnama recounts the myths, legends and “history” of Iran from the beginning of time to the Arab conquest in the 7th century. The exhibition comprises 33 paintings and objects from the 14th to 16th centuries, including folios from two of the most celebrated copies of the Shahnama in existence. “This exhibition celebrates the remarkable achievement of Firdawsi and the manuscript painting