This is an episode of The Specialist, producing by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's.

On today's episode, the legendary Shahnameh—the Persian Book of Kings—an epic poem composed of around 50,000 rhyming couplets that recounts the mythical and historical past of the Persian Empire. Head of Islamic and Indian Art. Benedict Carter tells the tale of how one remarkable version of the Shahnameh, containing 258 pictures, was split up. And takes us through to the spectacular, record-setting sale of one of its illustrated folios. 

⁠Further details about the episode subject⁠

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