Comparative Study of Historicism and Traditionalism in Islamic Era Art with an Emphasis on Architecture Sense and Decorations of Soltanieh Dome

Different methodologies for studying Islamic era art have led to diverse and sometimes contradictory results. Despite the great body of theoretical literature, there is a lack of monographic and instance research. This study aims to investigate comparatively the two methodologies of Historicism and traditionalism for studying Islamic era art with an emphasis on architectural elements and decorations of Soltanieh dome. Traditionalism is a well-known method to study Islamic art. It relies on transhistorical and mystical facts to understand the meanings in Islamic era art. Historicism suggests that to understand the meaning of Islamic architecture (and Soltanieh dome, in particular), the architecture should be studied in various (locational, Historical, Situational, Social and Political) contexts. The main objective of this study is to compare the feasibility of the two methods to study the Soltanieh dome. After critical analysis of traditionalist studies of Soltanieh dome, it is studied using Historical approaches. The results indicate the lack of feasibility for the traditionalism to study the Soltanieh dome. Historicism criticizes the traditionalists’ inattention to the contexts influencing the formation of Soltanieh dome meanings and generalization of religious concepts within a historical complex. Historicism considers Soltanieh arg and dome as the instances of political, religious and economic pillars of power which are structured in a syntagmatic manner and reflect the outline of the power structure and network.