Etymology of the Plasterworks' Decorative Motifs of the Karar's Shrine

The Seljuk era is one of the most important periods in the history of Iranian Islamic culture and art. Through an overview, it seems that the plasterwork decorations of this period include simple plant elements, half palmate and palmate leaves, artichoke leaves, five-lipped palm and lotus flowers, and in general, technically and in terms of the use of patterns and drawings, these decorations are based on plasterwork art in the Sassanid era. On the Seljuk altars, the main motifs are artichoke leaves, lotus flowers, and especially vines instead of leaf and rose ornaments. During this period, the motifs of the background of the inscriptions, at the end of which leaflets appear, have made great progress, the first examples of which can be seen in Rey Mosque and Imamzadeh Yahya, etc. In the Seljuk era, the same plant motifs of the Sassanid that included the lines and dimensions of a building period, it covers the lines of Islamic Kufi or the same decorative method, i.e. the branches that can be seen following some motifs of the Sassanid period. Here, too, they have emerged from the end of the Kufic letters.

Existence of plaster decorations of Karar shrine in Isfahan as a building from the Seljuk period which dated back to 528 AH, led the writers to present an independent study on how the Seljuk period plasterwork art was influenced by Sassanid plasterwork art. This tomb is located in Bouzan or Bouzoun, in the east of Isfahan, 6.5 km from the old caravan route to Nain . The old building is a tomb with dimensions of 40 square meters and belongs to the year 528 AH. In the year 713 AH, repairs have been done in this place and finally in 2001, the old building of the tomb was destroyed and a new building was built by the effort of the board of Trustees, donors and the Endowment Office. An iron shrine with dimensions of 3.5 × 2.5 square meters is located on the tombstone. The shrine has four porches with mirrors and beautiful paintings under the dome. The dome of the shrine has a height of 23 meters up to the ceiling. From the tomb of this Imamzadeh, which is surrounded by newer buildings, except for a part of the main nave and its southern wall, which is covered with a very beautiful altar which dated back to 528 AH, no other artifacts remain. The main purpose of this study, while introducing and describing the form and shape of the decorative patterns of the plasterworks of the Imamzadeh Karar of Isfahan, is to study the background of these decorative motifs and their origins. This research has been completed descriptively-analytically and with a comparative view and relying on field studies (referring to the National Museum of Iran, preparing images and designing them) and library studies.

Most of the decorative motifs of Karar shrine, are consist of plant motifs such as rosette, grape leaves and clusters, artichoke leaf, pine fruit, tulip, four-leaf clover and palm leaf, and geometric motifs such as circle (pearl shape), star, triangular, zigzag and rhombic. Comparative studies on the plasterwork decorations of Sassanid sites, such as Hajiabad, Bishabour, Hesar Tappeh, Tappeh Mill, Chal Tarkhan, Shush, Taq-e Bostan, Hezar Castle in Nizamabad, Barz Qavaleh, Qala Gori, Yazdgerd Castle, Kish, etc., with the plasterworks decorations of the Karar shrine in Isfahan, reflect the direct influence of Sassanid art on Islamic plasterwork art. In the Islamic era, artists have correctly revealed the influence of Sassanid art by using subjects such as grape leaves, artichoke leaves, palm leaves, pearl patterns, etc. The decorations in this building, such as the plaster decorations of Nain Mosque, Isfahan Mosque, Robat Sharaf altars, Sangan Mosque, Alavian Dome of Hamedan, etc., are based on the foundations of Sassanid works. Most of these motifs in a wide range of Sassanid culture and civilization reflect aspects of pre-Islamic mythological beliefs in Iran. In the plaster decorations of the Karar shrine in Isfahan, the artists of the Islamic period, while imitating the designs of the Sassanid plasters, have presented innovations in combining the patterns and changing their decorative themes. Such an effect can be studied from the two perspectives of imitation, and imitation along with change and innovation. In the field of decorative motifs of the plasterworks of this shrine, borrowing Sassanid decorative motifs in terms of the type of motifs and their method of execution, which is mostly in the form of carvings and engravings, as well as the general characteristics of the Sassanid period plaster ornaments such as contrast, symmetry, and repetition, is a direct imitation of the Sassanid plaster art. However, in the field of innovations and executive changes of these designs in the decorative surfaces of this shrine, the combination of grape leaves and clusters with artichoke leaves, placing rosette buds inside concentric circles,ending the end of the circle curve with elements such as grape leaves, artichoke and palm with more edges and petals, the continuation of the motifs in an infinite extension and most importantly, the combination and placement of inscriptions with divine and religious themes pointed to these motifs. Therefore, the effect of plaster art of the Sassanid period on the bedding art used in decorating the interior surfaces of the Karar shrine building in Isfahan can be considered a direct and obvious effect along with innovations in the execution and composition of decorative designs.

The plaster decorations of the Imamzadeh Karar building in Isfahan, like the plaster decorations of buildings such as Nain Mosque, Isfahan Mosque, Robat Sharaf altars, Sangan Mosque, Alavian dome of Hamadan, etc., in the early Islamic centuries, are comprehensive examples of the influence of Sassanid plaster art on plaster art. Iran is in the Islamic era. Patterns such as vine with central stem and broad leaves, grape fruit, circular pearls, rosette, artichoke leaf, pine fruit, tulip, four-leaf clover, palm leaf, star motifs, rhombus and zigzag pattern are some of the motifs widely used in gypsum decorations in the Sassanid era with a very rich mythological background. Undoubtedly, being in the land of Iran, employing Iranian artists, the existence of cultural and artistic richness in this land, directly affected the cultural and civilization atmosphere of the divine religion of Islam. On the contrary, with the domination of Islam over Iranian culture and civilization, Iranian communities within Islamic culture, in order to grow and survive, lost their mythological look. During this period, inscriptions with religious and divine themes, along with plant and geometric motifs, showed the nature and dimensions of human existence under the domination of divine power. As mentioned, the influence of the art of plasterwork in the Sassanid period on the plaster art of the first Islamic centuries can be studied from two perspectives: imitation and imitation along with change and innovation. The plaster decorations of the Karar shrine in Isfahan show the imitation of Sassanid decorative motifs along with changes and innovations in the execution of decorative surfaces. These motifs should be considered as a comprehensive example of the transition of decorative motifs of Iranian plasterworks to the first centuries of Islam.Funding: There is no Funding support Authors' Contribution: The authors' participation in the preparation of this article is confirmed as follows; the findings were collected by Akbar Sharifinia and the analysis and comparative studies were performed by Majid Sarikhani and Akbar Sharifinia. Finally, all authors review the research results and approve the final version of the article.Conflict of Interest: Authors declared no conflict of interest.