The earliest examples of visual representations in Iranian history are traced back to the bas-reliefs of Persepolis, c. 500 BC. Persepolis was the ritual center of the ancient kingdom of Achaemenids, and the figures at Persepolis remain bound by the rules of grammar and syntax of visual language. The Iranian visual arts reached a pinnacle by the Sassanid Era. A bas-relief from this period in Taq Bostan depicts a complex hunting scene. Similar works from the period have been found to articulate movements and actions in a highly sophisticated manner. It is even possible to see a progenitor of the cinema close-up in one of these works of art, which shows a wounded wild pig escaping from the hunting ground. COUNT 4
QSN1 What were the first known examples of Iranian visual art?  ANS1 the bas-reliefs of Persepolis QSN2 How far back can the first known examples of Iranian visual art be traced to?  ANS2 c. 500 BC QSN3 What city was the ritual center of the Archaemenids? ANS3 Persepolis QSN4 In what era did Iranian visual art reach its peak? ANS4 the Sassanid Era