Analytical Study of the Painting of the ʿAtīq Courtyard of Imam Riḍā (as) by Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará, a Painter of the Qājār Era (1311-1228 AH/1811-1893 AD)

Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará is a painter and one of the masters of the painting art of the Qājār era in the field of recording urban and historical works. His works have a geometrical proportion and a very precise perspective influenced by Mahmoud Khan's knowledge of mathematics and geometry. The purpose of this research is to study the structural analysis of Mahmoud Khan's painting from the ʿAtīq courtyard of Imam Riḍā (as) as his oldest known oil painting, and also the structural investigation of the features of this painting as a historical document of the ʿAtīq courtyard during the Qājār era. The main questions in this research are as follows: 1. How are the visual and structural features of the ʿAtīq courtyard of Imam Riḍā (as) shrine worked in the work of Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará? 2. How is the composition and divisions of the work displayed in the south porch and the clock porch? This research was descriptive, analytical, and collected information in the form of documents (library). The method of analyzing the works is based on the examination of the visual principles and rules used in ʿAtīq courtyard painting. The findings of this research show that Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará, one of the great artists and a pioneer in the field of modern painting in Iran during the Qājār era, has recorded the oldest courtyard of the shrine in the Qājār rule period with paintings, and in this work, he has pointed out the exact details that today, according to the changes over time, introduce us to the architecture of that time in the ʿAtīq courtyard. This old work is a documentary painting of Imam Riḍā's shrine during the Qājār era from the ʿAtīq courtyard, and in that painting, the correct perspective, subjectivity, and artistic creativity can be seen.