مجله جلوه هنر
سال سیزدهم شماره 2 (تابستان 1400)

The use of animal combat and hunting scenes in carpet weaving is rooted in the art of ancient Iran and is associated with the mythological and ritual concepts of these motifs. In the Islamic period, these scenes were first used in painting and book decoration. Then, in the Safavid period, they were widely reflected in the design of carpets. During this period, hunting and animal fighting scenes were combined with patterns of overall flower design, medallion, and Corner and Medallion. An example of this is the pattern of the carpet in the Miho Museum of Japan. In this research, which is of a fundamental type, the research method was descriptive-analytical, and the method of data collection was library research. The research data analysis was conducted qualitatively using structural analysis based on existing standards governing Iranian carpet design in the Safavid period. For this purpose, first, the structure and various components of the Miho Museum carpet were identified, and each of them was described. Then, the design of each of these parts were analyzed separately, and different layers of the design were revealed.   While examining various components of the carpet pattern preserved in the Miho Museum, including the corner, medallion, inscription, Upper-medallions, Border, and background, the present study sought to explore the method used in designing the carpet pattern. The research results showed that this carpet has a multi-layered design. The first layer design, which includes a Corner and medallion, occupies a quarter of the carpet. At this stage, the overall composition of the pattern cover a quarter of it. The size of the margins and their number and the location of the corner, medallion, inscription, Upper-medallions, and their general form is specified. The background of the carpet had been decorated with Khatai motifs with animal combat scenes along with it. The location of the border frames was also determined, and the space between the border frames was decorated with dragon and Simorgh combat designs, but the interior part of the frames remained empty. The small borders of the carpet were decorated with Khatai patterns using the Vagirei method. The space inside the corner, which used hunting motifs on a background of Khatai flowers, has an overall flower design. The available space of the medallion is decorated with an arabesque floral strap that encloses the frames inside the medallion. Inside the medallion frames, the inscription and the small medallion occupied half of the space, but the interior of the medallion's central frame remained empty. In the second layer, the pattern is repeated once in the length direction. At this stage, with minor changes in the type of buds and leaves at the end of the carpet background, the design of the background is reduced to a half. The main border frames are also completed at this stage. The scenes inside the border frames include two peacocks that were symmetrically facing each other inside the border frame and two animal battles, designed entirely inside the frame. Also, the depictions of the two angels, which are placed all-over the inside frame of the corners of the border, and the other two angels, which are located at the junction of the quarter-frame, are such that they have caused the border design to be out of one-quarter shape. At this stage, the carpet design covers half of its dimensions. In the third layer, the one-half pattern of the carpet is repeated once in width, and the central frame of the medallion is decorated using the combat scene between the two dragons all-over. The coloring of the carpet is also carried out skillfully. In addition to the color of the central frame of the medallion, which has a similar shape, the color of the bottom and top of the medallion is also different. According to the above findings, although it has taken a quarter of carpet’s space, the design of this carpet is composed of three layers. The analysis of the pattern shows that it is organized uniquely, and its weaving is performed using a complete pattern of the carpet. The important thing about the design of this rug is that this layered design is also present in the components of the pattern, such as medallion, Upper-medallion, inscription, and corners. The carpet medallion has a combination of three layers. Its Vagireh is in one-eighth form, while it enjoys a one-fourth alignment style. The third layer is an attachment of the two dragons fighting in the central part of the medallion, which gives the medallion an overall appearance. The inscriptions have three layers: the first layer of which is a frame designed in a quarter of space. The second layer is the addition of alignment with a Khatai pattern and a musician in half of the space. The third layer entails the color of these inscriptions so that the color of the inscription above and below the medallion is different and gives it an outward appearance.   The Upper-medallions are designed using the one-second method but have a grand color scheme and show two angels symmetrically with different colors. In terms of size, Upper-medallions are equivalent to each of the combating animals' scenes in the background, hunting in corners, medallion frames, and border frames. In a way, they have created a visual harmony with each of these scenes. As regards color, the Upper-medallion is compatible with the medallion, the border, and the fighting scenes in the background. Overall, the rug have a dominant design, and hunting motifs are used inside them.   The space inside the corners is decorated with a background of Khatai flowers with an overall flower design and three hunting scenes: Lion hunting with a sword, wolf hunting with bow and arrow, and antelope hunting with rope. The reason for paying attention to the motifs of hunting in this period, apart from ritual and symbolic purposes, was the interest of the Safavid kings in the subject of hunting as an essential ceremony that has its roots in the ancient culture of Iran. Hunting ceremonies were held in the king's presence when the country was not at war to gain courage and promote fighting spirit and strengthen the morale of the soldiers. There has also been a spot in Naghsh-e Jahan Square for fun and entertainment and polo and animal warfare ceremonies. What can be deduced from the study of the cultural and social situation of the Safavid period is that in addition to the symbolic aspects of the motifs and scenes of animal hunting, painters and designers of carpet patterns in this era used natural scenes of animal combat along with imagination in the design of the carpet and created great hunting scenes on carpets. For this purpose, the battle of animals, most notably the battle of lions and cows, has been present in the carpet design as a theme. Other favorite scenes in this period include Feliformia fights with halal meat animals and the battle between dragons and Simorgh and Chinese imaginary creatures, which are also one of the combinations used in this carpet. Regarding the carpets with animal combat and hunting ground designs of the Safavid period, it can be asserted that these patterns are invented at this period. The hunting and animal combat scenes were skillfully created on the carpets with a corner and medallion design. In terms of design details, the corners at the bottom and top of the carpet background are different. Considering the unique composition of this rug, with hunting motifs inside corners, which are the enclosed parts of the rug, and with the hunting motifs in the background of the rug, which has a broader space, it can be concluded that feliformia mixed with halal meat animals in the carpet backgrounds, appears to be the pets of the hunters. However, in some cases, there are combats between mythical animals, which are primarily designed to create space and instill a sense of hunting in the audience.

In this essay, an effort has been made to investigate female signs and their changes on gravestones by Peirce's semiotic classification of a sign in three forms: icon, index and symbol. The main subject is to obtain changes of the signs and the reason why women’s pictures were prohibited to use in this respect.  In fact, not using female pictures as icon but substituting symbol and index instead of iconic pictures on women’s gravestones is a big challenge. Generally, the usage of shapes in the form of a sign had been common on gravestones. These signs include plant motives, animal motives, decorative motives and human motives. Some of these signs had been an indication of the occupation of the dead person in the time she/he was alive. The reason why these were used was probably due to the illiteracy of ordinary people and lack of ability in reading inscriptions of gravestones. Another striking sign in gravestones was gender segregation. How to show masculine and feminine based on non-linguistic signs on gravestones was a matter. Maybe, one of the biggest obsessions in the author’s mind from childhood was lack of using women’s pictures in obituaries or on gravestones; However, men were not faced with such limitations. After some time, when passing Beheshte-Zahra (the most famous and biggest cemetery in Tehran), I noticed lots of changes in the pictures of gravestones. Moreover, women’s pictures were used on gravestones. This happens in a period of time when women’s pictures in obituaries is not prevalent in contemporary Iran, or at least they are rare. Additionally, women’s pictures on gravestones are less than those of men. The main question of the research is: what have been the shape of the signs related to feminine gender on gravestones and what have been the changes in using these signs and what was the reason of these changes in the course of time? In order to obtain a better result, in each era, a comparison with men is done, as well. The conclusion indicates that index sign was used initially on gravestones which were attributed to Muslim women. The reason for using these signs was the approximate equal ubiquitous illiteracy among both women and men in retrospect. Thereafter, female icons and pictures were virtually used in a number of cities. If we decide to study women’s pictures on gravestones, it is necessary to make a separation between Muslims and other religious minorities such as Christians. Most of Armenian gravestones are kept in Jolfa Museum in Isfahan. In fact, all of these are drawings of gravestones done by Abraham Goorgenian before they were destroyed. Iranian Armenian women’s pictures were used on gravestones after Safavid period when they entered Iran. The remarkable point is that the ancient village of Armenians in Armenia lacked pictures. They began drawing pictures on gravestones just after entering Iran in Safavid period which is a noticeable point. Based on a document, there were Iranian women’s picture as an indication of an icon in some rural areas; however, they were few in number and this was not a general issue. In Qajar period, the time when using pictures and icons were prevalent on grandees’ gravestones, Mahd-i Olia’s iconic sign was not used on her gravestone while her name was written beside poems and Quranic verses; however, she was deemed as a powerful woman; which is conceivably an indication of religious prohibition. In Pahlavi period, based on the gravestones of some iconic figures, it seems that using iconic pictures was not prevalent for both genders. Among prominent women in Pahlavi period with high ranking cultural status, we can refer to Parvin E'tesami (1285-1320 HS), Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri (1284-1338 HS) and Forugh Farrokhzad (1313-1345 HS). These three renowned faces are chosen as samples in the first and second Pahlavi period. Parvin E'tesami was a great poet, Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri was a singer and a musician; and Forugh Farrokhzad was a great poet in her time. The first one belongs to the first Pahlavi period (demised in Farvardin 1320) and the other two individuals belong to the second Pahlavi period. Parvin E'tesami was buried in Qom, in one of the aprons of the holy shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh. Qamar and Forugh were both buried in Ẓahīr al-Dawlah tomb in Shemiran district. There are no women’s pictures on none of these gravestones. It is conceivable that Parvin could not have had any pictures on her gravestone because of her proximity to the holy shrine. However, by having a look at Qamar’s grave stone and that of Forugh, this surmise can be reinforced that using these kinds of pictures was no prevalent at that period of time. This guess comes true when looking at renowned faces in Ẓahīr al-Dawlah tomb. The interesting point is that on none of famous men’s gravestones, no picture is depicted as well. Then, it can be concluded that using picture on gravestones was not something common for the two genders at that period of time and one reason is due to absence of technology. If using picture had been common, at least one of the referred individuals should have had a picture on her/his gravestone.  In today Iran using iconic pictures is becoming common once again though the number of men’s pictures are more than women’s and the prohibition does exist in some cities. The prevalence of pictures in the last decade has been so vast that it has become common even in religious cities, but it is not common in some regions, yet. It is worth noting that there are not any official rules or circulars in cemeteries about using or not using women’s pictures. In other words, each cemetery decides in such situations based on its board of directors’ view. So not in all cities this matter is permitted and it depends on the laws of each cemetery. In some regions, there were some cases in which after creating picture, the family of the demised person demanded for changing the gravestone or eliminating the picture. In other cases, pictures were distorted by extremists; but today these actions have become rare. Apart from individual interest in having a writing or picture, individual beliefs and cultural bigotries of families, do not permit the usage of women’s pictures on gravestones. Actually, based on Shiate’s sharia and most Grand Clergy’s judgment, using women’s pictures is not forbidden provided that she is covered with hijab, her picture is not sin-provoking and there is no sign of disrespect to the dead person in it. Although using women’s pictures is not banned by most Grand Clergies, instead of women’s iconic pictures, many symbols of flowers, candles and candlesticks are used. Also, some people don’t use any pictures and signs at all. So, it should be noted that using picture is arbitrary these days. So, everybody does not use it necessarily. In Tehran, using picture is more common. Pictures of the dead are kept as a commemoration tool in each house when they are not present. So, it can be concluded that their usage is merely commemoration and not something sin-provoking or so. All in all, it is something personal. One is fond of that but others may abhor it exactly like social media in which some put their pictures on their profiles; however, others use iconic pictures or other signs for some reason.    It seems that the advancement of technology has been effective in this field. Additionally, as this period of time is the technology era, the necessity of creating pictures in each second of life is palpable and gravestone is not a part separated from other seconds of life. This research is fundamental in purpose research, descriptive-analytical and historical comparative in method and entity, and collection of information was based on library form and field studies.

He gives his post-structural analyses based on the object and develops the subject’s identity with the concept of vacuum, which requires an “other” to get filled up, centered over object, objectivism, and decentralism. He proposes a theory named “mirror Stage” to prove his claim, and states that when a little child gets attracted to her/his own reflection in the mirror, they get trapped in that picture, and regards their own picture as an allied individual. They get the very first image of self when they look at their own body in the mirror. Therefore, the separated body parts of the child get completed by the mirror. At this point, Lacan emphasizes an entity called the imaginary nature of being the master, the physical master that the child does not yet possess, the master of an alien self-image that he has always longed for. According to Lacan, this "image" is a stage or mode of existence in which the human subject is burning with the desire of self, identity and individuality. The individual is always suspended and wandering between this unreal image and its embodiment. Lacan points out that the visual creates the illusion of wholeness both in ourselves and in what we see so that the visual deceives us so that we do not realize the shortcomings existing in us and the world around us. Lacan extends his mirror theory to include the "gaze" theory. Gaze is an object-dependent concept. In a Lacanian sense, the gaze is not an action related to the concept of perception in its psychological, and it is not limited to the mechanism of seeing or appearing physically, although it is dependent on it. However, the realm of gaze includes both the act of seeing and being seen—the act of perceiving and interpreting. In fact, when we look at an object, we are seen by that object in the first place, so we are not the ones who look first. We are called by its gaze, even though it invites us to look at it by looking at the object. considering this definition of gaze, it is possible to understand that in a film, even in a painting or commercial, the main gaze is attracted and the main object is suspended. When the function of the gaze is doubled, it appears as a spot. This spot or object of the gaze breaks the symbolic order of the work of art, disrupts its realism, and fills that conventional order. It has unusual capabilities, so the look is the surplus consciousness that affects the whole flow and structure of the work. In this descriptive study, with the use of Lacan’s “gaze” framework, efforts are made to clarify and respond to the questions and issues such as how, according to Lacan's view theory, one of the main axes of fantasy and imagination (such as advertising), can be made more effective in attracting the consumer. Also, how the subject, as a consumer in the fantasy space of advertisements, seeks to fill the void of its existence and falls into the trap of the advertisements. In order to answer these questions, one should know more about the nature of the subject or the spectator. According to Lacan, the subject is nothing but a loss. In fact, the subject is the Cartesian bearded man, a man who is trapped in the darkroom of his eyes and cannot walk out of that domain. He cannot even see himself, and the only thing he can do is seeing others through the window of this room. So the subject is nothing but a spectator, or to be more precise, an observant spectator. As a director, Alfred Hitchcock interprets the spectator as a significant organ playing and reacting. The spectator is the only eye in opposition to the object, and according to Plato, if the eye wants to see itself, it must be looked at with another eye. The subject sees himself through another eye, and realizes his existence. In order to realize this flow, the viewer, as he enters the filmic experience, deals with the image as a narcissistic unification with the subject, and then, as he moves away from the imaginary and enters the symbolic world, his desires turn into images. This is the moment when the spectator stares at the symbolic entity or the inner reality of the image. It is the moment of being stitched and getting united with the other, which faces the viewer with the contradictory and fragmented nature of his desire. He seeks his pleasure from the sight of the object, in another unconscious, and remains confused between his self-awareness and unconscious. Here we face a hypnotic imposed on the subject (spectator) due to the collision of excess consciousness with unconsciousness or emptiness. Hypnosis is the dominant space of this symbolic world, a trance and a fluid stillness of different scenes and sequences that engulfs the viewer. It is a common experience for the subject, while he watches movies, commercials and commercials. Even when we walk in the streets, we inevitably encounter giant pieces of environmental advertising such as billboards, posters, stands, and such and are caught in the spell of advertising. The viewer suffers from blindness due to excess consciousness. Being imitated by propaganda, he now imitates someone else in the symbolic order. Advertisements create frames where one seeks his identity, as Lacan always refers to the subject as "lack of identity." In pursuit of this goal, the advertising industry emphasizes the importance of the cognitive processes of the cognitive process, which is the escape from rational constraints and the alternation between logic and the unconscious. This research that is about the process of attracting and motivating subject(viewer) was focused on three cases of advertising teasers such as Korean company LG’s 84" UltraHD television set ‘Meteor Prank’ (2013), emphasized the superior quality of the screen. Furthermore, the food company SideKick set ‘Salty Mask’ (2010) emphasizes less salt as a remarkable advantage of its product. Then, Apple’s iPhone 5c company set ‘Designed Together’ (2014), which affects appears in graphical shapes and colors as one of the best designs for a cellphone space. Today, advertising goods has become one of the primary and essential pillars of human life, and even advertisements or commercials form the basis of some cultures. The seductive “gaze” of the advertisements causes the spectator to get bored and consequently blind, and engulfs the viewer like an artificial dream. Lacan refers to this in his eleventh seminar, and explains it this way: The status of a person during sleep and dreaming is like one who does not see and only follows. When a person looks at commercials with the gaze of the object, he passes from one space to another, from the physical or real space of our existence to another imaginary space or fantasy within the story. In order to satisfy his desire and need, he merges the space and language of the prophecy of advertisements. The source of this prediction is in the whisper coming from the depths of the discourse of these advertisements; the discourse that the spectator considers to be true, the discourse of the unseen, confusing, and astonishing him. This effect is created by breaking and destroying the symbolic space's realism and filling the spectator with an excessive consciousness or blinding him to the lights around him. Following this process, the subject becomes confused and thirsty to possess the product or advertising object, as he is trapped between his desire and unification with the other. The method of influencing and attracting the audience by the designers of commercial teasers emphasizes the feature of this view within the symbolic order, which is inconsistent and different from the general process of the story, plot or image that breaks the regular rhythm and expectation of the real subject. It creates an attractive distortion that stares at the subject and stimulates his gaze and feeling. This gaze can take place for the visual items, color, concept or even the sound elements.

New communications have necessitated the acquisition of visual literacy and the practical application of its teachings at various cultural and social levels. The current vast facilities in the field of visual communication represent the various promoters of visual literacy in society, each of whom influences visual culture in some way. On the other hand, sharing and reproducing visual media raises certain ethical and legal considerations and its pervasiveness does not necessarily mean that people are able to use or create visual content that is appropriate for their purposes. One of the first steps to improve the level of visual literacy is to identify its components and measure the performance of each basis from this perspective. But despite about half a century has passed from the formation of foundations that contribute in this area, the lack of a clear framework for this concept has challenged its training and qualifications. Therefore, the question is how to measure visual literacy or modify its components. In this regard, the present study seeks to answer this question, while providing an overview of the broad scope of this concept, it has expanded its components to smaller categories to be able to follow them in the subject of research and used as a criterion for measurement, in terms of the application of visual literacy teachings in various fields (in the textbook). In most of the research in the field of VL, researchers have tried to arrive at a cohesive theory in this regard. Their findings are published in the annual journal IVLA. In internal references, the theory of visual literacy has been neglected especially in the field of paying attention to the scope of this knowledge or looking for ways to measure its components the present research has been done in this direction. It should be noted, in Persian language references, the term is often used in the context of the basics of the visual arts while this topic is only a part of visual literacy. A review of the visual literacy literature shows that, in almost every definition of the term coined in 1969 by John Debs, visual literacy is the ability to produce and interpret texts that use images to express meaning. But describing the scope and classification of the components of this concept is still a matter of debate for researchers, Because the more complex the communication, the wider the scope of this knowledge, and it covers more social and cultural areas. In studying the theoretical foundations of this research, information collection has been done by library method. In this section, among the different theories and different classifications presented, the five components of visual literacy proposed by Avgerinou is chosen as the criterion for action. This theory was published in 2011 by the International Visual Literacy Association, in an article entitled - Towards a cohesive theory of visual literacy - while reviewing the VL literature over three decades (1969-1999), In that article, Avgerinou has introduced five cases as components of visual literacy (visual perception, visual language, visual learning, visual thinking, visual communication), Their connection to the skeptic is shown below (Avgerinou,2011:7)               Figure 1:  Visual literacy Component (Avgerinou,2011:5)   In this research, while describing the scope of each component, wider dimensions of these concepts will be exposed to the readers. In the second part, the evaluation of the book “Basics of Visual Arts” has been done by content analysis method Which consists of three steps:  preparation, review and data processing. The research tool is a checklist created by the researcher Where each component -according to the description of the first part- is broken down into smaller, countable units and based on that basis, categories have been created to evaluate the book. In compiling the categories of each component, an attempt was made to use more general cases that cover a wider range of components in order to obtain more acceptable information from counting the frequencies of each category in the content of the relevant book. This checklist has been evaluated by a number of experts and was used after some modifications and confirmation. In analyzing the content of the book in terms of attention to the components of visual literacy, at first, the contents of the book have been carefully studied and then according to the categories related to each component in the checklist, the frequency of each category was searched and counted in the content of the book and after recording the sum of the obtained frequencies in terms of each component in the frequency distribution table, the data were normalized according to Shannon entropy method. In the next step, the data weights were calculated, Finally, in the third stage, the importance factor of information was determined.   This is how it is determined; how much importance is given to each component in the textbook. As can be seen in the proposed diagram of Avgerinou- Figure 1- the components of visual literacy are in relation to each other, Among the categories related to each component, we can name the items that belong to more than one or two categories. Therefore, they cannot be attributed to a specific component. Cases like this have been measured in this study under the heading of "common categories" The results showed that the book of the fundamentals of visual art in the 10th grade, has given more importance to categories related to visual learning (27%) And after that, the categories of visual language have been considered by the book (25%), in this case, the purpose of the book is to teach the basics of visual language. Therefore, paying attention to the components of visual learning and visual language in this book can be justified in line with its educational goals. Visual perception is also a factor of acceptable importance compared to other components (17%). Common categories are next (13%). the components of "visual communication" and "visual thinking" have the least importance in the book under study (9% each). Counting the frequency of categories showed that the textbook evaluation in terms of visual literacy reveals hidden items in the text that may be overlooked in other analyzes. If the review process, the categories "attention to aesthetic values" and "function of style in messaging" were neglected, which were counted among the categories of visual communication. This issue can be considered considering the importance of this component in the field of visual literacy, because visual communication is one of the commonalities that is mentioned in all definitions and theories of visual literacy. And fast, correct and immediate communication through seeing is one of the goals of this knowledge. from the general research process, it can be concluded that the theory of visual literacy can be tested and measured and its teaching functions can be adjusted in line with the goals of each field and used effectively. Visual perception, visual language, visual communication, visual thinking and visual learning are the content of visual literacy and each has its own content. Careful study of each component of visual literacy requires a separate opportunity. With more detailed research, we can identify more dimensions of the scope of visual literacy and identify more categories and use it to test the level of visual literacy in various situations or activities. The components of visual literacy are topics that depend on and respond to social change and anything that leads to a change in social and cultural approaches, such as the advancement of science and technology or political developments and the topics react to the mentioned factors. Therefore, the flexible nature of this knowledge dictates that studies in this area to be continued.

From the very beginning, Christianity, as the divine religion, opposed the mysterious and blasphemous mirrors of its age based on bloodshed and pleasure, demanding the return of all to the one God. The resurrection and return to divine justice finally brought death to Christ on the cross. Christ welcomed it and, by sacrificing his body, caused the sins of the human race to be forgiven from the beginning. By the resurrection, he hoped the path of forgiveness continues. He revived the heart of his nation. Most of Christ's audience was illiterate, and on the other hand, the religion of Christ faced many difficulties and oppositions from the beginning. Many of these motifs have been used on church wall surfaces to sanctify places and teach religious teachings to believers. The Church of the Holy Stephen is located in the Aras Free Zone, 6 km from the village of Darreh Sham, 15 km west of the city of Julfa, in a place called Ghezel Vanak (Red Monastery) in East Azerbaijan Province. The church was built on the banks of the Aras River on a hillside called Maghard, which is why it is mentioned in Armenian written sources as "Deir Maghard". St. Stephen is one of the seven pious people who were ordained by the apostles of Jesus Christ and became missionaries of Christianity. Stephen is mentioned as the first martyr of Christianity in the Old Testament. The Jews of Jerusalem accused him of speaking against the Jewish law, arresting and stoning Stephen. In Christian symbolism, the church building has different meanings. Its original meaning is the house of God, but in some cases it has been compared to the lifeless body of Christ on the cross. The sacred building is primarily the image of Christ as the essence of divinity manifested in this soil, and in fact the plan of the cathedral is like the image of Christ crucified. Symbolic images served as a way to hide and spread Christian holiness. St. Stephen's Church in Julfa, Tabriz, is one of the buildings whose maximum external and internal surfaces are decorated and sanctified with various decorations. The exterior and interior surfaces of this beautiful and magnificent building are covered and decorated with various reliefs, paintings and sculptures. The interior walls are decorated with plaster painting techniques, and the exterior and exterior walls of the church are decorated with a variety of reliefs and small sculptures. Exterior wall motifs and decorations include written inscriptions, small sculptures of sacred animals and birds, various crosses, abstract inscriptions, and human motifs. The face of Christ is explicitly and symbolically depicted in four main directions on the outer walls in human reliefs and is painted several times inside the main church, but the face of Stephen is explicitly depicted in only one inscription, in which the last moments of Stephen's life are the time of the stone. His starling is depicted. The abundance of reliefs and beautiful decorations of this building engages the mind of the viewer and keeps the main inscriptions of two colors, however, with a careful examination, five inscriptions can be separated from the other reliefs. These inscriptions are approximately equal in height on the walls on all four sides of the church in four main directions. These inscriptions are very similar in terms of form and content, and their virtual arrangement correctly and in line with each other evokes a single meaning and formally resembles a cross hidden from the minds and eyes of viewers. Among many decorations, several inscriptions similar to the church's icons, with a specific composition and distance, are placed on the church's outer walls in four main directions. By virtually connecting these inscriptions, a unique and meaningful form is formed, forming a cross in form and having a lot of semantic connection and entanglement in terms of content. The horizontal axis of the virtual cross consists of two inscriptions. The first inscription is symbolically drawn at the end of the southern part of the horizontal axis of the cross with the theme of the election of Christ as the chosen one and sitting on the throne. The second inscription is drawn at the northern end of the horizontal axis of the cross with the theme of Christ's resurrection. The vertical axis of the virtual cross consists of three inscriptions, two of which are the testimony of the enemies, the crucifixion of Christ and the stoning of St. Stephen, and the other one is the salvation of Christ. These inscriptions were created under the influence of common sacred icons in the church.
These few inscriptions are secretly installed among the wall decorations of the church, specifically in connection with each other and with a predetermined intention. This cryptography and secrecy of the cross through inscriptions among the multitude of reliefs necessitates this research to analyze and study its form and content and is the main issue of the present study. Accordingly, first, the meanings of the symbols in the inscriptions were analyzed, then the analysis of these inscriptions is based on intertextual views from Gerard Genet's point of view in order to read the relationships between the inscriptions in terms of form and content relationship to confirm the form of the virtual cross. Any relationship that is formed based on co-presence between two or more texts is called intertextuality. Intertextuality is formed when two texts have a single element or elements. The presence of one element of a text in another text or the presence of several elements of one text in another text or the presence of several elements of several texts in a specific text is the main type of intertextuality. Genet intertextuality is divided into two major categories (1- explicit and explicit 2- implicit and hidden). In explicit and explicit context, the author does not hide the reference of his text and the elements of the first text are seen and identified quite clearly in the second text. Implicit and implicit intertext indicates the secret presence of one text in another. In this type of intertextuality, the second text is influenced by the pre-texts and places elements of it in its heart that remains hidden from the viewers' mind and eyes. Implicit intertextuality, unlike explicit intertextuality, does not disclose its reference and tries to conceal it.
This research is considered qualitative, and the method of data collection in this research is library studies, field research through objective observation. The research method is descriptive and analytical and seeks to answer the following questions: 1- Is the selection, composition, arrangement, and concealment of these inscriptions conscious? And does their virtual connection to each other form a virtual cross in terms of form? 2- What is the relationship between these inscriptions in terms of form and content, and is this conscious choice made in the cross's horizontal and vertical axes? In terms of content, do they emphasize the formation of a virtual cross? The hidden cross in the heart of the church, using five inscriptions in the four directions of the church, is installed on the church's walls, which depicts the theme of the life and salvation of Christ and finally St. Stephen. This research studied and analyzed the placement of each of these inscriptions, the relationship between them, and the symbolism of their elements. The symbolism of the elements was done using religious sources and the analysis of the relationships between the inscriptions was done using Jargent's intertextual theory. The main direction is the formation of a virtual cross. Further, according to the symbolic meaning of each of the inscriptions, in the horizontal and vertical axes of the cross, separately and together, and in the whole virtual cross set, the secrecy and structure of the cross are considerably conscious.

Documentary photography is one of the oldest and main branches of photography that Its purpose is to record and represent objects, events and various scenes around the world in a realistic, neutral and honest way. In fact, the main ability of documentary photography is its power of representation, descriptive and citation. Representation in documentary photography is a process that depends on the photographer's point of view, the elements of the outside world, the camera, and the definitions and requirements of documentary photography. However, documentary photography has a variety of representational and expressive capacities, and representation in documentary photography takes different forms and qualities. Because the documentary photographer is not necessarily the neutral and passive recorder of the scene in front of him. Anyway, since the documentary photographer is not a neutral and passive recorder of the elements and the scene in front of him, the documentary photo can also take on different functions and qualities. If we accept understanding each branch of photography depends on familiarity with the functions and constraints of that branch and a documentary photographer is subject to the accepted definitions and requirements of documentary photography; So, logically, the possibility of creating an artistic documentary photo should be extracted from the specific features of documentary photography itself. Therefore, According to purposes and different representational and expressional capabilities of photography, concepts such as representation, regeneration, explicitly, ambiguity, description and interpretation in relation with documentary photo have been investigated in the current study to explain creation methods of documentary artistic photo and its characteristics and also answer this question that because of what features a photo obtains artistic features and transforms into a documentary artistic photo. What are the differences between an art documentary and a documentary. What is the quality, quality and different features of an artistic documentary compared to a documentary. However, the concept of art itself has always been subject to change and ambiguity; But critics, through some concepts related to art and the general expectations we have of works of art, discuss the artistic aspects of a work. These concepts have always been of interest to art critics and theorists Given the various purposes and functions of documentary photography, it seems that with their help it is possible to examine documentary photographs and describe and analyze their various aspects, especially art. Due to the diversity of different branches of documentary photography, the topics and results of this research can be used to better understand the different aspects of this branch of photography and classification and analysis of documentary photographs. On the other hand, this research has a practical aspect and its topics and results can also be used for education. The study used descriptive-analytic and comparative research method and data has collected through library resources. In this study, based on the main and accepted characteristics and functions of documentary photography, the concepts of representation, transparency, clarity, ambiguity, description and interpretation have been tested in relation to documentary photographs. In this way, while describing the characteristics of documentary photographs, in contrast, the characteristics of artistic documentary photographs have been identified and explained. The findings showed that, In the documentary art documentary, instead of representing the real world in a straightforward and straightforward way, we are confronted with recreating a reality that is ambiguous; Because instead of merely describing a scene and event, it expresses the photographer's interpretation and brings him thoughts and views on a scene, event, or subject. In other words, documentary artistic photo is the result of photographer’s artistic action that is his new and different perspective towards real world. In fact, instead of merely transcending external reality, the photographer recreates new reality by deliberately and creatively representing the scene in front of him. Its elements and components are selected and combined in such a way that they express the photographer's interpretation and surround her opinion and point of view. In this way, the audience, in the face of the world of photography, is forced to make inferences and speculations about the presented subject and to think and imagine. Thus, in documentary artistic photo we are faced with the dominance of compilation, commentary and aesthetic aspects. In fact, in an artistic documentary, the photographer's share of the role of the playwright is more than the tools and the subject matter. Because a photographer recreates a new reality through creative representation of real affairs instead of reality and makes the audience to think and imagine about the represented topic. It seems that the concepts mentioned in this article can be discussed in other branches of photography as well and achieved useful and instructive results for recognizing their various aspects and test the artistic aspects of each branch of photography in this way.