Like those of the Achaemenian period they are carved in relief, often on remote and inaccessible rocks. Their purpose is the glorification of the monarch. I's reign and still bound to the conventions of Parthian art. The relief itself is very low, the details are rendered by means of fine incisions, and the forms are heavy and massive, but not without a certain vigor. They may have been inspired by Roman triumphal works, but the manner of treatment and presentation is very different.
Roman reliefs are pictorial records always with an attempt at realism.
Compositions are as a rule symmetrical. Human figures tend to be stiff and heavy and there is an awkwardness in the rendering of certain anatomical details such as the shoulders and torso. There is no attempt at portraiture in Sassanian art, either in these sculptures or in the royal figures depicted on metal vessels or on their coins. Each emperor is distinguished merely by his own particular form of crown. In the minor arts, unfortunately no paintings have survived, and the Sassanian period is best represented by its metal-work.