A comparative study of Sufism in two paintings of Sufis by Behzad and Sultan Mohammad

Iranian painting has deep roots with religious beliefs, has been greatly influenced by mysticism and is reflected in painting.Iranian painting has a beauty in which it has a special spiritual purity and elegance. In the Islamic period, due to the proximity of artists to mystics, a great change took place in the formation of the content of works of art. In the formation and development of Islamic arts with mystical themes, Iranian mystics and Sufi and Shiite sects played a major role. From the Timurid period , manuscripts were not just expressions of text; The artists have cleverly made references to some social and political issues in their works,to the best of their ability. Since Iranian art has deep roots with religious beliefs, it has been greatly influenced by mysticism and has been reflected in painting and can be seen in the works of two famous artists. The role of Sufis and their actions is one of the commonalities of the paintings of two artists, Behzad (painter of Herat school) and Sultan Mohammad (painter of Safavid school).These paintings are saturated with mystery.In the study of paintings,considering the foundation of Behzad's realism, and loyalty of Sultan Mohammad to this subject,the paintings are studied comparatively from the perspective of this world following the rituals and ceremonies that show Sufi deeds.  The similarity of these two images of artists in drawing Sufis reinforces the suspicion that Sultan Mohammad considered the image of Behzad's dervishes and drew a different image with his own point of view. The painters were faithful to Sufi customs in order to narrate the image of the Sufis, and in depicting postures and gestures, they painted them in dervishes' clothes with long sleeves. Sultan Mohammad has been faithful to Behzad's painting of Sufis, but due to the fusion of Sufism and politics in the Safavid era and the distance of Sufis from the world of mysticism, the hidden comedy of Sultan Muhammad in opposition to Sufism has been formed. The purpose of this study is a comparative comparison of the works of these two artists with a view to Sufism in Iranian painting.The question of this research is what visual changes are seen in Sufi painting with a short time interval? And what are the visual similarities and differences between these two paintings? The research method in this research is historical-comparative and uses library sources to compare the two images of Dervishes and their meaning.The results of this study show that Sultan Mohammad was faithful to Behzad's painting in depicting Sufis, but due to the integration of Sufism and politics in the Safavid era and the distance of Sufis from the world of mysticism, a humorous aspect has been added to the work.The results of this study show that Sultan Mohammad was faithful to Behzad's painting in depicting Sufis, but due to the integration of Sufism and politics in the Safavid era and the distance of Sufis from the world of mysticism,a humorous aspect has been added to the work.