Methodology of Nastaliq Calligraphy Criticism

The visual capabilities of the Nastaliq calligraphy have made it to be the most widely used calligraphy in the script of manuscripts from the ninth century AH. In the contemporary era, the possibility of innovation with this calligraphy in various forms of Ketabat, Chalipa, Katibeh, Gheteh Tarkibi and Siah Mashgh has caused the creation of numerous calligraphy artworks in a variety of compositions and so its link with visual arts has become more apparent. But It seems that the traditional calligraphy has not yet entered the subject of scientific criticism, which is commonplace today in visual arts so the field of critique of Nastaliq artworks has not progressed and strictly needs to be reviewed and developed. Undoubtedly ancient masters have had a high visual and aesthetic perception and their adherence to the principles and rules of calligraphy, albeit indirectly, could be considered by his special attention to the issue of evaluating calligraphy works. But the fact is that these principles, although have sufficient rules for teaching and executing a successful work, do not have the exact criteria for critique and evaluation of the effect. On the other hand the traditional Calligraphy Principles and Rules are an ancient legacy of calligraphy education, and it is supposed to enter the critique on the Nastaliq calligraphy it has the potential to adapt to modern scientific critique methods such as technical and structural critique and comparative critique. With the analysis of critique in the art world, we find that understanding the artwork of Iranian calligraphy, other than the conceptual understanding of the readers, of its text, is based on its visual and aesthetic perception of the entire work.it Has a high ability to critique and through this, systematic principles can be formulated to critique the works of calligraphy. From a practical point of view, the purpose of critique in calligraphy is to extract the principles and measures by which they can make calligraphy works in the artistic value scale and define the scope for their judgment. This research that is organized by analytical and descriptive methods and library studies, In addition to critically analyzing the principles and rules of the Nastaliq calligraphy and examining its compatibility with the rules of contemporary art critique, intends to achieve the development and systematization of a method for criticizing the works of Nastaliq calligraphy, using the principles of arts and the principles of Gestalt theory. At the end of the paper, By compiling and presenting a combination model for criticizing calligraphy works by the Nastaliq script, this conclusion is reached that the methods of critique by the principles and rules of calligraphy, the principles of visual arts, and the principles of Gestalt theory, each enable to active a part of the capabilities of the calligraphy artwork; In other words, these methods complete each other so referring to one of them alone, causing a flaw and ambiguity in the critique process.