فهرست مطالب ولی الله کاوسی

At the same time that Qajars were reigning Iran, many changes appeared in most of European and Asian cultures so that Qajar art was also affected by them. Therefore, continuation of the tradition Golestān-e Honar 14, Winter 2009 6 of visual arts in Iran may have been interrupted in Qajars period. However, on the one hand they used to be penchant for Persian traditional forms and issues in the period, especially for Sassanid and Achaemenian relieves, and on the other hand, there are elements in portraits of Qajar kings which can be rather found in descriptions of ancient texts than remained images of the past. One of the first effects of Qajar paintings was largeness of sizes which showed a very fracture with past, and was considered as a new event in Persian figurative arts. There are many differences between the art in early and late period of Qajars, of which the most significant reason is the development of photography. Despite finding repetitive and inexpressive faces and bodies in Qajar paintings, a kind of attraction is found, which is a consequence of their instinctive simplicity. These works cannot be considered as ways of showing the power of Qajar kings; rather they show an original modernity and popularity. The most attractive aspect of Qajar art is looking for this modernity, and the result of such demand is what is now remained of Qajar art.

The career of the Ilkhanid vizier and historian Rashided- Din Fazl-ul-llah Hamadani illustrates the nature of taste and artistic production in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Rashid-ed-Din makes a better model of patronage than an Ilkhanid ruler’s. Much of what is commonly called Ilkhanid architecture or painting was underwritten not by Mongols or their noyan, but by native Iranian counsellors who guided the Mongols pretensions and inspired their tastes. We have plenty of first-hand information about Rashid-ed-Din; especially the Endowment Deed for the Rab-‘e Rashidi, the history written by and illustrated for him, Jāme‘ ot-tawārikh, as well as several other manuscripts he commissioned. Rashid-ed-Din patronage illustrates two forms that became prominent in their period: the tomb complex and the illustrated manuscript. Like other members of the court, Rashid-ed-Din used his wealth to finance architectural projects in the form of pious tax-shelter foundation; including Soltāniyeh, Yazd, Bastām, Hamadan, and the Rab-‘e Rashidi in Tabriz. The latter was destroyed after the death of its founder, but we can get some idea about it from the illustrations in Ilkhanid manuscripts. The model of patronage established by the highest members of the Ilkhanid court in north-western Iran was copied by other notables elsewhere in Iran in the same and the following generation. Via Rashid-ed-Din’s eldest son, Ghiyāss-ed-Din Mohammad, the manuscript patronage was passed to the next generation. By 1340 AD then, the types of artistic work ordered by Rashid-ed-Din in Tabriz at the beginning of the century – the tomb complex – were still commissioned but the scale of patronage had diminished considerably and the audience had become local, or even private.