An Interpretation of the Duplicate Painting of Iskandar's Birth Book

Since the third century AH، the science of astronomy that had a special place among Iranians long before the advent of Islam، has been studied and completed by many Muslim scholars، and the Iranian art became a means of visual expression and better understanding of this knowledge. To beautify the astronomical motifs، the artists used symbolic concepts and they used them to decorate handicrafts. The people who considered the rotation of the stars to be effective on their happiness and misery، considered it important to persist. With the emergence and development of painting in Iran، astronomical symbols were used as a way to better express the difficult concepts of astronomical books and many illustrated copies of these books were written and dedicated to the king of the time.
One of these paintings that contains the concepts of accurate calculations of astronomical rulings is a two-page drawing from the book of Iskandar's birth. Although the reign of Timurid Iskandar Sultan was very short، it is one of the most brilliant periods of the flourishing of painting and illustration in Iran. In this era، many books، literary، historical and scientific works were illustrated and decorated in Timurid Shiraz School.
This book، or in fact horoscope، was written by Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Kashi (Emad al - Munajim) in the ninth century AH and painted by Pir Ahmad Baghshomali.
This painting is considered from several perspectives; first, in terms of examining astronomical symbols and the concepts of astrology hidden in it, second, using the Timurid Shiraz school of painting and paying attention to the salient features of this school and third, paying attention to the illumination designs used in the work and how to match it with the painting and the magnificent decoration of the painting intended to be presented to a Timurid prince.
Iskandar Sultan was very interested in astrology and astronomy due to his scientific work as a child at his father's observatory (Omar Sheikh) in Samarkand. He was also very interested in the art of book decoration and his art workshops were very famous in Shiraz. In these workshops, artists painted and gilded manuscripts and therefore, these two arts reached their peak during the Timurids. These symbols, which are derived from the astronomical symbols of that period, have been painted in a unique way. For example, the use of crowns in most symbols and the elegance of the design of clothes, in addition to having the characteristics of Shiraz style of painting show the glory of the prince. Actually the location of the planets in the zodiac sign showed the Sultan's omen in his future life and the meanings of the symbols referred to his greatness and glory.
In terms of astronomical symbols in the painting; they show the position of the planets and the horoscope of the twelve months at the time of the birth of Iskandar Sultan.
The art of Illumination, which was originally used to decorate the Qur'an, evolved over the centuries and was gradually used in the decoration of other books. During the Mongol rule in Iran and the support of princes for the art of illumination and illustrating books, art workshops began to work.
 In these workshops, books were illustrated with the arts of illumination and painting by the most skilled masters. The combination of these two arts, though having given glory to painting, is such that the viewer does not distinguish between them, as if they are both of the same type. Perhaps one of the reasons is the harmony of the colors of painting and illumination. The use of golden and azure colors in the background and costumes along with the golden crowns of the symbols shows the value of the painting offered to the Timurid prince.
The following research addresses these questions: how this beautiful tablet of Shiraz school has established the connection between astronomy and painting according to the scientific interpretations of the books of al-Mavalid، al-Bolhan as well as symbolic interpretations of drawings of Ajaib al-Makhluqat of Qazwini، Mounes al-Ahrar and al-Bolhan? And basically، the symbols in this horoscope indicate what concepts in the horoscope of the Timurid prince? The aim is to study this horoscope as one of the rarest horoscopes so far, in which, in addition to astronomical symbols, many scientific materials have been beautifully included. Using the symbols of the nine constellations, the gates of heaven, the guardian angels of the throne of God, the belief in the axis of the earth, the use of visual symbols of the zodiac and the planets have all been expressed in combination with creativity and innovation.
 The method of the research is descriptive - analytical - comparative historical, and method of collecting data is using library resources. The results of the research show how the painter has skillfully expressed his princes،s horoscope by using astronomical symbols and how he has brought the exact astronomical concepts beautifully in this two-page tablet with the painting of Shiraz school.