Studying the Motifs on Shields in Miniatures of Baysonghor and Shah Tahmasp Shahname

Beyznqiri and Tahmasbi Shahnamehs are considered to be artistic and cultural masterpieces of Iran. The Shahnameh of Baisnqiri has been photographed at the Herat School during the Timurid period whereas the Tahmasebi Shahnameh has been written in the Tabriz school during the Safavid period. The scenes depicted in these two precious versions contain war shields that are very beautiful and rich in motifs. This research, by examining the designs of war shields in the two Shahnamehs, seeks to classify different types of motifs as well as examine and make a quantitative and qualitative analysis in terms of design and color, in order to determine the dominant designs of the two Shahnamehs. Also, this study tries to find out to what extent the designs of Tahamsbi Shahnameh have been influenced by Baisnqiri Shahnameh. For achieving this goal, library and documentary information were collected, and by analytical-descriptive methods the drawings of the two Shahnamehs containing war shields were selected and the motifs were extracted and described and studied comparatively. The motifs of Shahnameh Baisnqiri contain all kinds of geometric motifs, Lotus, Shamsa, Eslimi, five and six large flowers. The use of geometric designs in the Tahmasebi Shahnameh has been reduced, and instead of those, Eslimi and Khataee types were used which are more delicate and elaborate. Most of the Shahnameh shields backgrounds are black, dark blue, and its motifs are golden, green, fire and blue, while almost all the motifs of the Tahmasebi Shahnameh are drawn in golden colors and the background of motifs is often made up of various colors of blue, green, red, black, orange and black. The tradition of drawing the shields in Tahmasebi Shahnameh is in the continuation of Shahnameh Baisnqary, but the motifs have not been copied.