فصلنامه نگره
پیاپی 35 (پاییز 1394)

Inscriptions as conceptual and decorative elements in Islamic Architecture are important tools for the representation of religious beliefs and policies, and because of their written nature, express the ideas and thoughts of their era. Goharshad Mosque in Mashhad as one of the masterpieces of Islamic-Persian architecture has various inscriptions with religious themes, which have been frequently restored in various historical periods. This paper by use of comparative-analytical method, library sources and observation, both introduces Timurid and safavid inscriptions of this sacred place, and analyses them below the Intellectual principles of Shiism. It also comparatively shows that how these themes during the time, along with religious and cultural trends of artists and politicians, have been subjected to qualitative and quantitative changes. Research findings show that in both periods, there are inscriptions with Shiite theme. These themes, in Timurid period, were influenced by dominance of Sunni religion in the country, emergence of Sufi-Shiite movements and the circles of worship and Sufi communities. While in the Safavid period, by separation of religion from Sufism and Shiite dominance, we see explicit themes which refer to the most important intellectual principle of Shia, i.e. Imamate. A comparative study of the contents of the inscriptions is a new way in understanding of religious art and the impact of the religion on the epigraphy at different periods of the history of Islamic-Iranian art.

Calligraphy booklets by the master calligraphers, which remain in the history of this honorable art, besides an exact account of the techniques to make the materials and tools, instructions and their stages, are a treasure of spiritual knowledge that the disciple of this art must follow so that the art of calligraphy with the potential to write the word of god is manifested. One of the oldest and most significant calligraphy resources is the the Serat Al-Sotur of Sultan Ali Mashhady (1515 AD) which all its chapters are entirely endowed with spiritual aspects from beginning to the end of the booklet. This research is conducted with the aim of theoretical explanation of three fundamental aspects in this booklet i.e. “spiritual accomplishment and honor of calligraphy, pen and practice”. Using the descriptive- analytical method, this paper tries to answer the question that whether it is possible to find a way to attain principles of modern artistic instructions by using the spiritual and pictorial teachings of this booklet? It is attempted to study the influence of religious teachings on the progression of this honorable art through examination and explanation of this precious booklet. In conclusion, achievement of this paper is the emphasis of Sultan Ali on catharsis by pen & opinion training in calligraphy which is achieved by the spiritual way of the masters and elders, and eventually the human being becomes the pen of God himself, and as the pen is the “virtuous instrument of calligraphy”, the man becomes the virtuous instrument of God.

Hunting scenes are some of the most ancient archetypes which were depicted in artistic works, especially golden and silver containers in the Sassanid era. Iconography is description and interpretation of symbolic and cryptic hunting scenes which contains messages and information that their decoding can clarify different political, social and religious aspects of life in this era. The purpose of this research is studying and analyzing symbolic concepts of hunting scenes based on iconography of the elements applied in these scenes. For this purpose, 27 Sassanid artistic works, painted with hunting scenes were identified and all their information were studied using statistical method and by registering all their information in charts. the results of the research indicate that in contrary to the previous era that gods and affluent classes were present in hunting scenes; in this era only the Sassanid king was depicted at the center of the scene, mounted and larger than other elements, which is in accordance with the Sassanid era ideology of king as god’s representative on earth. The hunted animals are also of a great significance in Zoroastrian religion. In this era, evil creatures are not to be hunted and eliminated by the king, but there are sacred creatures whose hunting will bring welfare and prosperity to the king, and in fact the concept of hunting in this era was more than just an entertainment and gained a religious-political value.

Iran and China as two great and ancient civilizations, one located in the East Asia and the other in the West Asia, have historically had broad and longstanding ties. These two countries were connected through the famous overland Silk Road before the advent of Islam and after that through seaways, and their relationships in three significant areas of business, religion and politics can be studied. These relationships and the commercial ties between two countries have had a profound impression on their arts in the history. The study of these interactions reflects the influence of China's art on Iran, but impacts of Iranian culture and art on China have not been well expressed or even have been ignored. These influences in both pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Iran are visible, but it must be said that the influence is more pronounced in the Islamic era and more documents and more works from this period have survived. In this article, using a historical-analytical method, we try to study the quality of the influence of Iranian art on Chinese art through the study of ancient historical resources and observation of the remaining art pieces from two civilizations of Iran and China. According to the results we can say that the Iranian art has influenced china's art, especially its pottery in the different periods. By studying Chinese pottery, we can see Iranian art’s effects in three aspects of: form, glazing techniques and motifs.

The imagination among Iranian and Western sages and philosophers, is the most basic and most complex issues of the universe. The research question is whether the imagination is considered the main essence of the aesthetic style of Farshchian? And if so, what was the kind of imagination or the artist’s approach to this element? In this paper, for the first time, it is attempted to critically examine and study the place of imagination in the collection of the artist's pieces (538 works) with the aim of demonstrating and proving the role of imagination as the basic essence of the artist's creative works and identifying the types of imagination in them. This theoretical study uses descriptive - analytical method and is conducted with an interpretative and combined approach. The data were collected from library sources and field research, and the methods of data analysis were quantitative and qualitative. The result based on the findings was that for three reasons the imagination is considered the foundation and the main essence of the aesthetic style of Mahmoud Farshchian. First, variety of subjects, second, high percent of the lyrical class, and third, creative and powerful expression of works. Also, Farshchian’s approach to the imagination element or its types, is transcendental and has a fundamental role.

Iranian calligraphic painting in the 2000s is under the influence of the traditionalist approach. This approach refers to movements which orientation is mostly return to traditions to revive self-identity. This research investigates how traditionalist approach affects Iranian calligraphic painting in the 2000s. Therefore by applying descriptive-analytical method and social approach, investigates that through which components the traditionalist approach has been represented in Iranian calligraphic painting in the 2000s. For this purpose, two works of ten significant artists in this field were studied as samples. The results indicate that some characteristics which are repeated in these works, are promoted as signifiers of the concept of tradition in the traditionalist approach. It was also affected by the conditions of the commercial art market and the tendency to use these factors is increased by the flourishing market for calligraphic painting in Middle East and Arabic countries. But because of the structural limitations of the traditionalist approach, most of the works were devoid of the conceptual aspect and summed up to a beautiful visual work. The few spiritual works have just as much conceptual potential to convey the traditional concepts and are devoid of any reflection of the social occurrences – which makes the capacity for criticizing and influencing the society.