An Analysis of Motifs in the Murals of Abbas Abad Tikyeh (Royal Theatre) in Kashan

Murals of holy places are representative of folk art. In such monuments the artist portrays religious events such as Tasua and Ashura (the 9th and 10th days of Muharram) alongside with decorative motifs like flowers and birds. In Safavid era, buildings known as tikyeh (royal theatre) and Husseiniya were considered the inseparable parts in most of the historic cities and villages of Iran. In this research the murals of Abbas Abad tikyeh (Kashan), from early Qajar era, has been studied. Nowadays, this building is located in one of the neighborhoods of Kashan known as Posht-e Mashad. Today, due to the construction of a boulevard, one of the three archspans of this building has been destroyed. Therefore, more than half of the paintings are gone and the part that remains is deteriorating as a result of poor preservations. Now faces of the characters in the figural paintings are just recognized by the presence of some names written next to them. The results of the research show that we can find subjects of "good and bad" by means of applying visual similarities. The main themes depicted in this place are as follows: the conversation of Abul-Fazl Abbas with Horr, the war of the prince Ali Akbar, war of Qasim with Shami's sons, Sultan Qeis. The painter has often taken a particular criterion in terms of the importance of the subject to illustrate the narratives. Hence, the themes mattered very much are placed in central locations. The methodology used in this research is based on descriptive-analytical study and the information has been gathered from library sources and by field observations.