A Comparative Study about Representation of Polo in Paintings with the Theme “Siavash Playing Polo in the Presence of Afrasiab” in Shahnameh

Polo, nowadays a global game, is the oldest group game in Iran and has been so embedded in Iranian culture that many literary and artistic works have been created about it. Ferdowsi’s “Shahnameh” (literally, the book of kings) is one of the most pres-tigious literary works which focuses a lot of attention to this Iranian game, especially in the “Siavash Story”, which has an effective and compelling character. It is natural that the painters of different eras in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh paintings pay attention to this story and include portions of it, including “Siavash’s polo playing in the presence of Afrasiab”. This comparative study, which aims to examine this tale and its repre-sentations in paintings. This applied research was conducted in a descriptive-analyt-ical manner with a comparative approach, and the information was obtained through a library method. Studies show that, despite the overall representation of the story in the paintings, some parts of the story in the paintings do not match the story; for example, in terms of representing the number of pitchers on the field, the presence of players next to the stage, like the tree and the clear sky that tell the time of the play at the start of the day.