Comparative Study of Illuminated Manuscript Art Study of Illumination Art in Safavid and Qajar Era

The illuminated manuscript is an Iranian-Islamic decorative art that it can be seen in different versions and artists have created the remarkable exquisite works. The Safavid and Qajar dynasties, each with their historical conditions, have provided a platform for the development of art, and thus the investigating and evaluation of the stylistic attributes of the works are remarkable in each period and their volume of production. In this regard, first we were selected the images of religious books in the museums and available print samples in terms of decorative elements, and examined the composition and how they were used in text decorating, frontispiece and margins. Also, the general features of the style of illuminating books were analyzed and compared in Safavid and Qajar dynasty. During the Safavid period, due to the financial and spiritual support of the king, elders and aristocracy, the production of illuminated works have been made in high numbers and, ultimately, elegance and beauty. At the end of the Safavid period, it is becoming widespread due to the decreasing in the protection of the court for the creation of monolingual works. In the early Qajar period, the illuminated manuscript of the editions are followed the Safavid samples in their principles and, over time, influenced by the circumstances of its time, possessed various visual and technical characteristics, such as the spread of the arrogance spirit in the society, the use of much of the golden color and the technique of the rhythm in the illuminated manuscript. This research has an analytical-descriptive method and its data gathering is the textual and documentary information.