Analysis of the Shiite Signs Reflected in the Inscribed and Imprinted Embellishments in Nim-Award and Chahar-Bagh Schools in Isfahan

The present study attempts, while explaining the way the symbolic messages were transferred in inscriptions and embellishments in Nim-Award and Chahar-Bagh schools in Isfahan, to recognize the most important messages used in a selected number of them to prepare the ground for answering the question of how the symbolic messages would be transferred in inscriptions and embellishments in Nim-Award and Chahar-Bagh schools in Isfahan, and what the most important symbolic messages reflected in the samples under study are. As to the method, the study was a descriptive-analytical one and was conducted with a semiotic approach. Data gathering was done using survey and library sources, and they were analyzed qualitatively. A brief section of the findings show that the symbolic function is one of the most important aspects of the embellishments in those monuments as artistic-historical media. This is in a way that the interaction between Shiism, doctrinal foundations and religious policy is known as the main reference of the artist for transferring the messages in the form of the aforementioned media; and finally, the messages are transferred to the addressees on a regular basis. The most important symbolic messages receivable from those media include stating virtues, succession (caliphate), imamate, and stating the privileges of Imam Ali (AS) for making a role-model out of him as the symbol of the Shiite art. Besides, in the discussion on composition of embellishments, the Shiite numerical symbolism has been used.