Comparative Study of Golestan-e Honar and Manaqeb-e Honarvaran

Abstract: Safavid era is a period of flourishing of fine arts in Iran. During this era, with the encouragement of the kings, many artists were working all around the country. That is why many reference books have been written during this era about calligraphy and other fields of art. “Golestan-e Honar” written by Qazi Monshi Ahmad Qomi is one of the most significant independent reference book, which contains valuable information regarding calligraphers, miniaturists and illuminators in Safavid era .This reference book offers a new perspective and contains lots of useful information about the artists in the Safavid era. “Manaqeb-e Honarvaran” is another trusty reference book that has been written a decade prior to the “Golestan-e honar” by Mostafa Ali Afandi in Ottomans territory. There are notable similarities and differences between these two books. In this paper, the researcher tries to provide a picture about the era in which these two authors used to live, by studying similarities and differences between these two books, using a descriptive analysis method.