Sculpture based on Farshchian’s “Evening of Ashura” unveiled in Tehran

TEHRAN -- A sculpture, which has been created based on master miniaturist Mahmud Farshchian’s masterpiece “Evening of Ashura”, was unveiled during a ceremony in Tehran’s Imam Hussein (AS) Square on Monday.

The ceremony was held on the eve of Ashura, the tenth day of the lunar month of Muharram on which the Imam and his companions were martyred in 680.

Thousands of mourning people attended the unveiling ceremony, which was held in heavy rain.

Created by Siavash Salimi, the bronze sculpture depicts a scene from the evening of Ashura, when the women and children of the household of Imam Hussein (AS) are mourning all around Zuljanah, the horse that the Imam used in the battle of Ashura.
    
“My religious belief inspired me to change this subject into a sculpture,” Salimi told the Persian service of IRNA on Sunday.

“The idea for transforming Farshchian’s ‘Evening of Ashura’ into a 3-D work came a few years ago, when I saw the masterpiece,” he added.

Salimi spent 15 months making the 3.5-ton sculpture

“This sculpture differs from all the works I have previously created,” he noted.

“This is an extraordinary work, which should be seen up close. I have made it with all the exquisite delicacy of the original work,” he stated.

Salimi have previously created statues of many Iranian luminaries, some of which were installed in urban districts. The statues of Ferdowsi and Avicenna standing in front of the Embassy of Iran in Paris have been created by Salimi.

    
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