---
title: 'Khomeini among widows and orphans, with the fallen Shah at his feet: poster signed Norouzian, May 1979'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/khomeini-widows-orphans-fallen-shah-norouzian-1979/
description: 'Painted poster in the manner of a Persian miniature: Ayatollah Khomeini sits holding a child while a veiled girl offers him a red flower and other widows…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

**Content note:** Painted poster showing the deposed Shah crawling among spent bullet casings at the feet of Ayatollah Khomeini. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Khomeini among widows and orphans, with the fallen Shah at his feet: poster signed Norouzian, May 1979](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/khomeini-widows-orphans-fallen-shah-norouzian-1979.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/khomeini-widows-orphans-fallen-shah-norouzian-1979.jpg)

# Khomeini among widows and orphans, with the fallen Shah at his feet: poster signed Norouzian, May 1979

Painted poster in the manner of a Persian miniature: Ayatollah Khomeini sits holding a child while a veiled girl offers him a red flower and other widows and children press in; a domed shrine is visible through the window, tulips lie on the steps, and at lower right a small figure in the Shah's ceremonial uniform crawls among spent cartridge cases. The tell: the miniature composition, the tulips and the shrine lend martyrdom and sanctuary to the sitter, while the shrunken, kneeling monarch is placed among the bullets.

## Text on the object

Original (Persian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
[signature, lower right]
۵۸/۲/۱۹
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
[signature]
1358/2/19 (Solar Hijri), i.e. 9 May 1979
```

The only lettering is the painter's stylised signature (identified as Hossein Norouzian on the MédiHAL/Commons record; not independently legible here) and the date beside it, read as 58/2/19 in Persian numerals. The poster carries no slogan or caption. The English is a literal machine translation by Claude.

[← FBIS Daily Report: Damascus Domestic Service on the 'treasonous Camp David agreements' (28 Sep 1978)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fbis-damascus-camp-david-treasonous-1978/) [FBIS Daily Report: Tehran Domestic Service on the occupation of the U.S. Embassy (5 Nov 1979) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fbis-tehran-embassy-seizure-1979/)

## Using the same techniques

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- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (Kushan Empire · 0130 · Transfer)
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- [Mughal gold coin of Jahangir, dated 1028 AH, with a bull inside a ring of sun rays](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jahangir-gold-zodiac-coin-sun-rays-1619/) (Mughal Empire · 1619 · Transfer)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
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- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)