#blue sultan

[mote-historie]

1910 Leon Bakst, Costume sketch of ‘La Sultane’ for the ballet 'Scheherazade'.

Scheherazade is a major character, and the storyteller, of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as One Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights).      

[books0977]

Costume design for the Blue Sultan in Scheherazade (c.1910). Leon Bakst (Russian, 1866-1924). Watercolour on paper.

The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, told seriatim, for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely.