This work features a scene from the Shahnama, the 11th century epic poem written by Persian poet Ferdowsi. The figures depicted are the hero Rostam and his horse Rakhsh, Persian for lightning. Rostam describes the horse thus;

'Its body was a wonder to behold,
Like saffron petals, mottled red and gold;
Brave as a lion, a camel for its height,
An elephant in massive strength and might'