The Effects of Visual and Conceptual Aspects of Mirror-Works in Shah-Cheragh’s Shrine on the Contemporary Artistic Works (Case Study of Munir Farmanfarmaiyan’s Works)

In the Iranian-Islamic architecture, using the art of mirror-works as a type of fresco based on light effects has a certain structural and semantic credit that makes it different from other types of fresco. The Holy Shrine of Ahmad bin Musa, known as Shah-Cheragh, is one of the greatest monuments wherein mirror-works have been used extensively in various types. Since a fundamental recognition of the instances of the traditional art can somewhat fill the identity gap in the contemporary art, comparative studies in those two spheres can be considered as a necessity in contemporary studies. Munir Farmanfarmaiyan, as one of the prominent figures in the Iranian contemporary art, enjoys a unique status in the international sphere. The studies show that this artist has been inspired by the semantic and formal features of the mirror-works of Shah-Cheragh’s shrine in his works. The present study has used a descriptive-analytical method in gathering data in the form of library sources and filed study to analyze them in the inductive way. The findings of the study show that, in the formal sphere, some of the main designs in the mirror-works in Shah-Cheragh’s shrine, such as muqarnas, qab-bandi and naqshina, have been used in Farmanfarmaiyan’s works as well; and in the semantic sphere, common features such as analysis of form, inducing motion, visual simultaneity, and representation of reality, which are among the most fundamental concerns of the modern art, have been manifested in both artistic spheres with similar formal and semantic goals.