The reflection of the thinking of myths in the characterization of the paintings of the illustrated version of Al-Bolhan, with an emphasis on the picture of "Al-Qul Ali al-Tawbi'a wa Awanha" representing the character of "Al"

With the passage of time, ancient myths, as different manifestations of culture and art, have preserved their life and survival through various artistic forms such as painting, illustration, and sculpture. The illustrated version of Al-Bolhan, in addition to the original illustrations that the painter often used from his subconscious to depict the pictures, is a valuable source for re-reading and identifying the culture and art of Iranians in the second half of the 8th century of Hijri. The aim of this research is to introduce the valuable and abandoned version of Al-Balhan as a part of the common (Iranian-Islamic) written culture, and to analyze the mythological characters of the book of Al-Balhan, focusing on the image of "Al". In this research, in addition to identifying mythological characters in Al-Balhan book, the character "Al" is portrayed as a symbol of evil in myths and folk culture is also investigated. The results of the research show that the characters of Al-Balhan version can be separated into human, animal, natural, mythological, spell and magical groups. The mentality and unconsciousness of "Hassan Ibin Ali Ibn Isfahani", the illustrator of Al-Balhan book, including the "Repentance" patch, made him to express mythological thoughts in the form of paintings and images by considering a special type of composition, choosing colors, and creating the atmosphere of the pictures. This research is developmental in terms of purpose and also descriptive-analytical in terms of method.