NEGARINEH ISLAMIC ART
Year:2020 | Volume:7 | Issue:19|Papers Count:12

Literature has always inspired Iranian artists, and there is an undeniable connection between them. This research has explored the connection between Iranian poetry and painting in the intertextual and intersemiotic translation of the paintings of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza and Haft Orang Jami. Prince Ibrahim Mirza (April 1540-23 February 1577) was a Persian prince of the Safavid dynasty, He brought together a group of talented artists to illustrate the Haft Awrang, including seven Masnavi of Jami’ s most enduring poetic poems, which led to the creation of a collection of twenty-eight magnificent Masnavi paintings. In this study, the author intends to examine the story of the prophet Muhammad Miʿ raj in kerad nameh eskandary by drawing it from the Haft Awrang of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza Examine from the perspective of intertextual studies and relying of Genette Hypertextuality. A critique of the issues of similarity and convergence in poetry and drawing, and accuracy in substitutions, shows that the painter did not oblige herself to illustrate all the verses. According to a comparative study between the painting and Muhammad Miʿ raj Mostly dominant from the perspective of Genette is variation, And among the moving cases, Decreasing and increasing is the most reliance on increasing that is based on the painter’ s imagination.

In the history of Islamic landscape creating the fantastic open spaces cover a wide range of designs and techniques which consists of water systems and hydraulics, planting the exotic plants, sophisticated mechanical objects, zoomorphic spouts and fountains, ingenious garden devices, and decorative architecture. But creating the imaginary gardens should not be underestimated to the micro elements of the gardens. There were some spatial and organizational relationships between garden and geographical context, and also between open and closed spaces, in macro and middle scales, respectively. Considering the fact that many researches in the field of historical gardens in Iran are limited to the geographic region of Iran, the fantastic attributes and the mythology in gardens of Islamic civilization have not been much considered by Iranian scholars. Based on this gap in Persian literature the research questions are: what methods and elements of garden designing in Islamic civilization have been used to create a mythical and fantastic open space? Can we consider the environmental approach as the basic concept of creating the mythical and royal gardens in the early to the middle ages of Islamic civilization? This paper used an exploratory approach based on a descriptive-analytic research methodology, with a study of important English bibliographic sources for each garden. Furthermore, the researcher instead of obtaining a historiographical approach that examines the garden as an enclosed object, by adopting an environmental approach, considered the larger context from the perspective of study to discuss the causes and effects, and the balance between natural forces and cultural values. Garden sites that have the value of studying from the perspective of unique mythology represent the spectacle of the landscape architecture of the Islamic period, which includes a wide variety of gardens and landscapes which are geographically aligned with Muslim domains of governance from the second to the eleventh century. It means the author for completing this study has selected the garden sites from Spain, Maghreb, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, Pakistan and India. Based on the results of this study the author believe that the root of creation the mythical gardens in the Islamic civilization should be sought in the environmental approach of the landscape architects. The diversity of mythical gardens and mythological practices in the royal gardens showed the fluidity of the meaning of the garden and its placement on the frontier of imagination and reality. The lands conquered by Muslims who shaped the Islamic world (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Anatolia plateau, Iran and North Africa) were largely desert landscapes that, as a result of irrigation techniques and agricultural growth in the Islamic period, the gardens were the symbol of sovereignty. It is important to note that the mythical gardens were not the result of extreme decorations, but the designers and gardeners of the Islamic period applied based on the three-dimensional environmental approach. In this model, emplacing the location of the gardens based on identifying the natural resources, either apparent resources (Andalusian, Ottoman or Mughal gardens) or hidden environmental capacities (Western Asian gardens) was the first step of garden landscaping in macro-scale. In the middle scale, landscape design and environmental features were affecting the audience. Thus, garden design, gardening practices and ornamental horticulture, and interaction between architecture and nature were being defined in middle scale. Eventually, the continuity of naturalist elements in landscape detail and decorative architecture could complete the innovative chain of creating a mythical open space.

Over the chronicle of Persian painting, depicting the landscape has always occupied a peculiar position, being demonstrated through an array of forms and accompanied with different manifestations. Drawing the flashy representation of the landscape was considered under careful attention of painters during the 16th and 17th centuries. But it was bearded considerable alternations in the Isfahan school of painting which the landscape lost its own previous practicality. During this period of history, two prominent painters of Safavid court-Sadiqi Beg Afshar and Reza Abbasi – changed the style of drawing the landscape. Sadiqi Beg Afshar was the representative of the new and Reza Abbasi was the representative of the former style of drawing the landscape. Taking a glance at the works of these two artists, the viewer can easily see the differences. Since they are the notable delegates of the later and former styles in the Isfahan school of painting, the recognition of visual resemblance and discrepancy of the landscape is highly necessary. Accordingly, the authors seek to answer this question: which special properties have been applied in the later and former styles of Isfahan school of painting based on artistic works of Reza Abbasi and Sadiqi Beg Afshar? To conducting this research as the qualitative study, firstly, the nature and the basis of drawing the landscapes and sceneries of the two styles have been defined and then a contrastive study among their works was conducted. The results showed there are obvious distinctions in special tendencies of drawing the landscapes which were being manifested through the exclusive inclination to the nature by each of those two masters.

Mokryan is officially part of West Azerbaijan Province in Iran. There are numerous motifs on the surfaces of the hundreds of gravestones in the Eastern Mokryan cemetery that demonstrate the importance the visual beauty as well as the iconic importance of that works. Obviously, these motifs were not only engraved for decoration, but also expressed the interests and beliefs of the deceased persons and their survivors. In addition, there acted as the manifestation of the culture of the society and the symbols of the myths and thoughts of the past generations who lived in Qajar period. This study as descriptive-analytical-historical research was based on gathering the information through field surveys and document studies. The aim of this study was conducting the iconographic analysis on the Qajar’ s gravestone of the Eastern Mokryan cemetery. In this regard, the authors tried to show influences of religion and religious beliefs on iconography of the tombstones and the type of their designs. The results of this study indicate that these tombstones contain various motifs of human, animal, plant, geometric and inscription images. In general, most of these motifs, while having special meanings and symbols, were influenced by the culture of the region and beliefs of the population. On the other hand, Shia and Sunni beliefs, in addition to the form of tombstones, had also the greatest impact on the type of motifs of the studied works.

Ali Qapu Palace as an imperial palace in Isfahan had been originally designed as a vast portal entrance to the grand palace which stretched from the Naqsh-e Jahan Square to the Chahar Baq Boulevard. The palace served as the official residence of Persian Emperors of the Safavid dynasty. The palace is forty-eight meters high and there are six floors. Ali Qapu is regarded as the best example of Safavid architecture and a symbol of Iran’ s Islamic heritage. Ali Qapu is rich in naturalistic wall paintings by Reza Abbasi, the court painter of Shah Abbas I, and his pupils. There are floral, animal, and bird motifs in his works. The highly ornamented doors and windows of the palace have almost all been pillaged at times of social anarchy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the evolution and changes of executing the Islamic motifs in the Ali Qapu Palace. The main questions are: 1-What is the differences and similarities between the techniques of executing the Islamic motifs in the different floors of this building? 2-What are the methods of artistic performance in different floors of Qapu Palace? For this purpose, the data of the research were collected by field studies through which all Islamic motifs were photographed. In addition, some data were gathered through library studies, and then the data were analyzed by descriptive-comparative method. The results of the research show that the executive methods in the second, third and sixth floors of Ali Qapu Palace were implemented by using the mixed works of painting and stucco, while in the other floors only painting was performed. It was also found that the first and second floors, which were accessible for the civic society and were in connection with the market, their designs and execution methods were simpler and less diverse. But in the third and sixth floors, due to the royal functions, designs were more complex and the varieties of execution methods have been implemented.

With the advent of Islam in the 7th century AD, the course of artistic trajectories was transformed enormously, and in the shadow of Islamic civilization, an opportunity was provided to other nations to benefit from artistic and cultural achievements. Meantime, Persia had the highest position of gaining interest in other nations because the vast majority of Islamic art was rooted in Persian art (Sassanid), and in this way, and in this way, the dark and silent Europe during the middle ages, most of whose lands were conquered by Muslims, gained the most. In the 12th century, the Normans overthrew the Islamic State of Sicily and inherited the achievements of Islamic civilization. The aim of this research was to study the aesthetic components of Persian art and to introduce some of its global effects in the form of Sicily Island in the Norman period art and to analyze historical events as well as the process of transferring to other nations. To identify influential trends in the process of transferring Persian culture and art to Middle Ages Europe and Especially Sicily, as well as determining the role of the motifs and concepts which are used in this area’ s art works and has been impacted by Iranian art, It should be said that the spread of Persian art in countries has been emerged through direct and indirect factors: the Crusades, Muslim conquests on European soil and consequently, the Governance of the Muslims in this region and residence of Iranians, Trade in Italian peninsula with the Islamic World and especially Translate scientific resources that reserved to Iranians and muslims. What we call Persian in the works of Sicily are: Iranian mythical themes, decorative and lyrical like Griffon, Hunt, Plant motifs, Dance, Animals around the tree of life especially in textile design which is somehow a reflection of their Iranian origin, Animal Controversy, falconers on horseback, Horseback riding shooter. This research is of historical type and analytical-comparative method, and has been done by comparing images, and data collection method is secondary research.

Trends and interests of the Islamic society to the divine persons and Imams in the visual arts, particularly in the forty years after the Islamic Revolution, caused the creation of artistic works in various branches of visual arts, in which icons of Imams act as the main element. Among the various areas of the visual arts that faced seriously with the iconography, this paper focused on the painting and illustrating the children’ s religious story books. In more detail, the author sought to investigate the Islamic iconography through the religious illustration taken from the stories of the Quran and religious books published for children and teenagers. Thus, the author tried to answer these questions: 1) what features of Persian painting and drawing have used by illustrators in making the sacred symbolic icons? And, 2) do artists and illustrators have benefited from visual features of non-Islamic arts for creating Islamic symbolic icons? The results of this study show the artists have benefited of different methods in drawing the icons of Imams and holy persons, from which the trend to a kind of symbolism in drawing icons continued through the history from past to the contemporary period. Moreover, the symbolic approaches to the icons of saints and sacred persons that have been illustrated through the history of Persian paintings and miniatures have also affected the contemporary illustrators. This finding proved the assumption of the author that the symbolic approach to the icons of saints in illustrations has had a significant impact on the child and adolescent’ s mind to focus on characteristics and surrealistic features of holy saints. Finally, this approach of Islamic symbolism in painting the children’ s books has contributed to make the relationship between audience, subject and content of the stories, while associated with focusing of the audience mind on the principal role of the saints in the Quranic stories.

Beyond the importance of architectural structure and spatial design of the religious tangible heritages, decorative arrays had the special place in the Islamic-Iranian architecture. Isfahan, as one of the historical cities in Iran, accommodates different types of religious buildings, from which this study focused on the architectural heritage of the Safavid and Qajar periods. In this study, the Chaharbagh and Roknolmolk mosque-schools were selected as two significant examples of the Safavid and Qajar heritage, respectively. It should be noted that the main goal of this study, in addition of recognizing the architectural structure was to investigate the decorative arrays and proportional harmonies. The main inquiry was: what were the most important decorative arts used in the Chaharbagh and Roknolmolk mosques-schools? In more detail, the authors tried to explain the points of differences and similarities between the two case studies in term of decorative arrays. This research is comparative in term of approach and descriptive-analytical in term of method. Also, data collection has been done through documentary method and field observations and the information analyzed based on qualitative methods. The findings of this study indicate that the both buildings as the standard four-iwan heritage, while demonstrating the similarities in the structural architecture, encompass the significant differences in terms of buildings’ dimensions and the quality of artistic decorations performed in each of them. Chaharbagh accommodates the impressive amounts of the traditional architectural decorations, among which metal engraving, goldsmithing, filigree, and gilding on plaster have significant differences with the case of of Roknolmolk. But in both of the buildings, there is a remarkable proportionality between the architectural arrays and the architectural structure. Additionally, in terms of motifs and contents, both buildings represent the artistic features of the historical period in which they were constructed. Thus, Chaharbagh heritage demonstrate the multiplicity of geometric, arabesque, and abstract motifs which were mostly colored by the cold chromatic such as ultramarine and turquoise. By contrast the Chaharbagh, the Roknolmolk is an exemplar of Qajar decorative tradition which was decorated principally with the naturalistic, human-like motifs, and various colors among which the warm colors were predominate.

The Baysonghory, Ibrahim Soltan and the Tahmasebi Shahnameh are among the most important illustrations of the Shahnameh, each of which is created with the principles of artistic quality and aesthetic taste of the time. Also, Serpent Zahhak’ s (King Zahhak with Snakes Protruding from His Shoulders) hanging scene was depicted in the three Shahnameh. This research answers these questions by comparing and reviewing the relationship between text and image in this Illustration and studying the similarities and differences using descriptive-analytical method with a comparative approach. 1: What techniques have been used by painters for text and image loyalty in depicting Zahhak’ s hanging illustration? 2: What are the similarities and differences between Zahhak’ s hanging illustrations in three versions of Baysonghory, Ibrahim Soltan and Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh? The data of this research have been collected through library resources and observation of works. The results indicate that the dualism of ancient Persians is the basis of the creation of images, but the way it appears in versions is different. The image qualities and the properties of the elements of the Tahmasebi Shahnameh illustration imply on an approximate loyalty to the original text. From the similarity of three illustrations, can be noted to loyalty to the principles of the arts of the time and from the clear differences of three illustrations can be noted to scenography, the composition and the number of elements.

Persian carpet has long been a manifestation of Iranian art and civilization and a manifestation of the imagination and creativity of the Iranian artist. The design of the altar is one of the designs that have its roots in ancient rituals. Such designs, which have a spiritual and religious aspect in addition to being decorative, are woven in different urban, rural and nomadic areas of Iran. The most prominent examples of nomads are Baluchi and Turkmen funeral rugs. The study of the design structure of these two areas is one of the main objectives of this research. The following questions are raised in this regard: 1. What is the design and composition structure of the altar rugs of the Turkmen and Baluch tribes? 2. What are the common features in the design and role of altar rug carpets in these two areas? This research is a descriptive-analytical method and the materials have been collected in a library. Based on the results of the research, it was found that in general, Baluch and Turkmen funeral carpets have common cultural roots. The implementation of the structure is different.

The burial places of Imam Husayn and ‘ Abbas, the commander and standard-bearer of the caravan of Imam al-Husayn in the Battle of Ashura’ , are now located in the city of Karbal, Iraq. There are among the most important visiting places for Shi’ a. These two shrines are located in distance of 378 meters of each other. Each holy shrine consisted of many sacred elements, among which this study focused on Darih. Darih is an Arabic word meaning grave and the cleft in the middle of the grave. However, in Farsi, it refers to a small room, box or a grille-shaped structure made of iron or wood placed on the grave of an Imam or children of Imam. In more detail, Darih is a small room in a rectangular cubic form which separates the space around the grave from the surrounding area. In Imam Husayn shrine, under the dome, there is a large silver, polygonal Darih, in which the graves of Imam al-Husayn and his sons, ‘ Ali Asghar and ‘ Ali al-Akbar, are located. Different Darihs have been built and installed on Imam al-Husayn’ s (a) grave in different periods. The last time when the Darih was changed was in 2011. The purpose of this study is investigating the history of the mentioned Darihs and the qualitative analysis of their inscriptions. The research method is analytical-comparative and the data were collected through library and field studies. The findings show that in the both of two case studies, 13 inscriptions have been built by using three calligraphic techniques called Thuluth, Naskh and Nastaliq. The content analyses of those inscriptions have also shown that the written texts are in the relevance of demonstration of the sacred position and divine status of Imam Husayn and Abbas. Due to the different dimensions of the structure of the two Darihs, there is one row of inscriptions more in the Darih of Imam Husayn. Finally, in terms of the contents the inscriptions of the studied Darihs are divided into four groups: 1-Qur’ anic verses, 2-Names of God in Islam and Fourteen Infallibles, 3-Islamic hadith, and 4-poems, among which the Qur’ anic samples were designed and executed with the more effective and influential designs.

Glassmaking as one of the most prominent arts in Iran has flourished throughout history despite the different vicissitudes occurred in Iran. In the result of several millennia of Iranian art history, valuable glassworks have been left among which this study focused on the glass bowls. The study of glass bowls focusing on its constituent elements, forms and decorations under the title of morphology can lead to understanding the background and historical evolution of Iranian glassmaking. The aim of this study is to present the evolution of the art of glassmaking over time by examining glass bowls. Samples of pre-Islamic glass bowls have been collected and studied in order to find an answer to the fundamental question of what changes have been made morphologically in Iranian glass bowls throughout history? The research method is descriptive-analytical and the data was collected from library sources. The results show that the method of making glass bowls of the Islamic period of Iran is in fact a continuation of the method of pre-Islamic period, while mixed with the initiative and innovation of Muslim glassmakers. Pre-Islamic glass bowls during the Achaemenid period were made by pressing the mold and in the Sassanid era by blowing into the mold additionally. Glass bowls of this period had similar shapes to hemispherical molds and were often colorless and decorated with cuts. The cutting methods of these bowls were surface, double surface and embossed surface, and the most widely used is honeycomb design. The glass bowls of the first century of Islam had the similar shapes to the bowls of the previous era, thus decorations were taken from the decorations of the samples of the pre-Islamic era. These decorations were created by surface, double surface and linear cutting on the given works which the latter one was marked in the glass bowls of Islamic period. In the following centuries, glass bowls were often made and decorated by blowing into the molds. The decorations of the Pre-Islamic glass bowls were mostly pure geometric abstracts including circular and honeycomb motifs, two specimens of which were decorated with plant motifs. Over the centuries, these ornaments were continued and iconic-abstract ornaments containing animal, plant and human motifs and purely abstract ornaments including written and non-geometric motifs have been used by the glassmakers.