مجله مبانی نظری هنرهای تجسمی
سال سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 5، بهار و تابستان 1397)

Many scholars and critics agree that it is very difficult to express and define postmodernism, due to the existence of a patchwork of different views and opinions. This study aims to identify the origin of postmodernism and its manifestation in the visual arts.  Universally known as a form of cultural authority, postmodernism is beyond style or artistic movement. It is a hybrid and contradictory art on one hand, and opposes modernism on the other. It has the word behind it. But while anti-modernism exist???, postmodernism can get rid of the deadlock on the choice and move forward  .Perhaps postmodernism is a type of evolutionary modernism. Or it is a need of human societies today while modernism has lost its function at this point of time. Postmodernism is modern in nature, since, like modernism itself, which has already protested against the tradition before itself, it objects to modernism. The early stages of theoretical and controversial discussions on visual arts in the 1960s and 1970s were called "postmodernity." During this period, thinkers and theorists, after many academic debates, were able to convince many that modernism was captured by its hard laws and needed help to get rid of this situation.  The peak of postmodern art, especially in the field of visual arts in the 1980s, created a major transformation that continues to grow. Its origins are especially rooted in the theoretical and philosophical ambient of France and then other European countries such as Germany, England and Italy.Various events in the political, social, cultural and artistic fields contributed to the creation of postmodernism. In fact, postmodernism is a response to the degeneration and exhaustion of transcendental modernism. Even the late modernism could not save it from the abyss of extinction. Postmodernism is highly skeptical, eclectic, and complex. It can be called transparent trans-modernism or transcendental modernism.  The opposition of the advocates of modernism with postmodernism seems to be unnecessary, because as we deal with many styles, movements and vocabulary throughout history, postmodernism can be considered a historical and commonplace term that addresses various issues and aspects, accepted in today society, domination and authority.  The nullity of modernism in concept and content of its dry and principled frameworks on form, style and manner of presentation, as well as excessive emphasis on elitism, was the result of the distortion of art in the society. Therefore, naturally the artists returned to the portrayal of the human figure and the expression of the content. The figurative art was born in response to abstraction and brought about the reunion of art and society. Perhaps, if the modernist theorists and artists had not acted radically, postmodernism would have never arisen. Postmodernism emerged to prevent the radicalization of modernism and thus, shouldn’t suffer the same problem. That sort of postmodernism that seeks to overcome the problems and deficiencies of modernism, is considered positive and worthwhile, and can help its growth, especially in art. But extreme postmodernism, which even tries to ignore the principles of aesthetics as an integral part of art, is considered to be negative and needs to be reformed. In the event of the continuity of extremism and the failure to observe the basic principles and aesthetics, postmodernists will suffer the same problem of the modernists and will inevitably face post-post-modernism. Postmodernism has become a universal cultural world of shadow, desperation, or unwillingness. We are now living in a postmodern world. From the point of view of art history, modern art in Europe and the United States is merely a formidational evolution of the pop, minimalist and conceptual art and is in fact a new and growing blend of artistic styles previously introduced. In fact, modern and contemporary art of the West should be the heritage of the carnal culture of pop art, the method of presentation and materials used in minimalist art, and, finally, the aesthetic dimensions and the discovery of the artistic background in objects, which emerged in conceptual art. Postmodernism in visual arts, in addition to the use various modernist and classical styles, also makes use of other medias, such as photography, sculpture, theater, video and computer. It is highly eclectic, and in addition to the aforementioned mediums, it technically utilizes a variety of materials and sometimes antagonisms in the presentation of the work. One of the features and solutions of postmodernism in art, especially the visual arts, is appropriation, discourse, spatial characteristics, accumulation, durability, instability and bonding. In this article, the terminology, historical background, origin, theoretical discussion of this term have been addressed e through employing historical and descriptive methods.

The social, political and economic situations in the 20th century, specially post-world war I & II, have led to the emergence of artist’s subjectivity and consequently, moving towards reconstruction with the aims of modernization, return to individualization and unification of his consciousness and unconsciousness. Automatism or ‘being automated in Art’ is applied to the unconsciousness behaviors and involuntary movements which develop through the artist’s production path. It is a method of creation through which the artist endeavors to prevent any kind of logical and control of his conscious mind over the movement of his hands and permit his semi- consciousness mind, lead the way to his artistic performance. The unconsciousness is the reality of our inner side and it is the unconsciousness which transforms the reality of the world outside. The human reality rests somewhere in the mind called ‘the unconsciousness’. At times, the artists create works of art relying upon the power of the unconsciousness mind, which is called ‘Automatism’. The idea of Automatism, which is in fact considered as one of the influential factors in the development of some important art movements of the 20th century such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism, has been applied in different manners by different artists. This study bears an attempt to investigate the inner sources and the reasons for the particular behaviors and practices of artists as well as the different methods of applying the unconsciousness through Automatism in creating masterpieces. The survey indicates that Automatism have been employed in a different manner in each of the masterpieces presented. Here it is argued that for the artist, Automatism means trusting the unexpected events occurring while creating his works of art. At the same time, it means deciding upon the relation of the image to the existing order for creating a specific artwork where the element of ‘chance’ is also plays a part. Creation through the medium of Automatism is in fact an interpretation of the unconsciousness territory of the artist’s mind since the beginning of his life so far portrayed mystically and symbolically in the form of images or words. The aim of the present research is to explore the position of Automatism and its reflections in the artworks of Western and Turkish artists. Furthermore, the paper seeks to answer thse questions that as 1) What does the idea of automation in the creation of artwork mean? and 2) in which field of art the Western and Turkish artists has used the idea of automation? The study comes to this conclusion that in the works of the artists surveyed, automation means trusting the unexpected events occurring during the process of creating their works. Thus it falls out for some artists as the intrinsic heart beats and as dreams for others.  Due to the eternal recording of the inner voices of these artists in their unconscious memories, one has to heed to these inner voices while the take note of the harmony formed between their hands and their souls. We will show that every single western artist mentioned in this research has created a unique movement in the fields of designing, painting, photography and sculpturing under influence of Automatism while those Turkish artists who have been studied in this paper have presented their Automatism through their artworks in the field of design and painting.  The Automatism in the Turkish artists` paintings  has led to spontaneous thoughts containing dreams and unconscious imaginations (Islamic handwriting) which had long been suppressed However, creation through Automatism in the artworks of western artists is manifested in the shape of abstract forms, gigantesque brush strokes, convoluted lines or a canvas full of letters. This research has been conducted through descriptive-analytical approach using library materials as well as consulting the works of painting. The main body of the present study is the translation of English and Turkish texts and, according to the necessity of research, the aspect of neutrality has been preserved.

Discovery of oil in 1908 set in motion a series of fundamental changes in political, economic and cultural structure of contemporary society of Iran. Through concentrating on the art of painting, this study investigates the impact of the discovery of oil in the creation of works of art by the Iranian modernist painters and tend to answer these questions that has oil affected the creation of artworks by the Iranian modernist painters? If it has, what were the factors involved in the process? What position the southern oil-producing cities held for the modernist painters? Having referred to the press releases of the news agencies associated with the national oil company during the years 1940 to 1980, the survey endeavors to go through the published pieces of news and reports and study the artistic activities of modernist painters who lived temporarily or permanently in the southern oil-producing cities. In addition to the abovementioned press, we shall trace such impact in the works of the prominent painters of the country by referring to the history of Iran contemporary painting. Thus, the research shall be conducted employing a descriptive-historical approach and the desk study of library resources which have proven to be a proper method for attaining to the required information. The preliminary studies indicated that there is a great volume of pieces of news and reports in the art discipline that well display the dynamism of art and culture in the southern oil-producing cities. A major part of such artistic activities is related to cinema, theater, music and literature; however, the press released regarding the works of visual arts and the presence of modernist painters in oil-producing cities is significant. The first industrial cities of Iran emerged upon oil discovery. Due to the presence of western professionals, ethnic and racial minorities, the formation of urban middle class as well as the availability of various, modern and facilities, these cities turned into a proper venue for the presentation of the artworks created by the modernist Iranian painters. The remarkable presence of a significant number of Iranian modernist painters in these towns during 1940 to 1980 was indicative of their cultural progress. Some of these painters were hired by the Oil Company and settled in these cities while the favorable conditions prevailing in these cities including entertainment/cultural clubs, movie theaters and luxury restaurants as well as growth of middle class who were the main customers of artistic products encouraged some others to go there for selling their products. The reason for choosing these 40 years (1940 to 1980) is the establishment of Tehran’s first college of Fine Arts in 1940 as a venue for the pioneers of modernization movement in contemporary painting and the beginning of imposed war in 1980 with Iraq’s invasion that incurred irreparable damage to the southern oil-producing cities particularly Abadan; damages that have not yet been healed to date while keeping the memory of those good old pre-war days alive in the minds of the inhabitants of these cities. Although the discovery of oil has been the main factor leading to industrialization of Iran and the creation of southern oil-producing cities, but we should not forget that with Iran’s Constitutional Revolution, a new phase of tendency towards modernism emerged in the country and grew increasingly. With the reign of Pahlavid dynasty, Iran’s social structure underwent tremendous transformations. These transformations in art, especially painting, emerged with the establishment of Tehran’s college of Fine Arts. Although another school of fine arts called ‘Sanaye Mostazrafeh’ had already been established by Kamal-ol-Molk during the rule of Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar dynasty, but it was the graduates of Tehran Fine Arts College who, through their own efforts, turned to be the pioneers of visual arts in the and assisted the development of remarkable changes in Iran’s contemporary painting. Setting up art associations, such as ‘Fighting Cock Society’, organizing press conferences for enlightening the public people as well as the establishment of personal galleries, such as Apadana, to display artistic courage, are all among the instances of the contributions of these college students after entering Iran’s art community. As mentioned before, some of these modernist painters were directly or indirectly inspired by oil and created great artworks under the influence of this new phenomenon. Modernist painters such as Houshang Pezeshknia, Shokrolah Manzour and Iran Doroudi have illustrated oil facilities and the lives of people affected by this industry. In their paintings, they sometimes go beneath the outward physical existence of these cities and oil facilities, get into the lower layers of the towns and portray the pain and suffering of the workers and ordinary people. There were also other painters who utilized the opportunity provided herein to sell their works without leaving even a small trace of ‘oil’ in their works. Meanwhile, there were a few artists who held a critical outlook towards oil and chose the environmental consequences of oil pollution as a topic in their works. In this article, these painters will be investigated.

Middle Ages contain several doctrinal paintings about Christian religion from fifth to fifteenth centuries. Saint Augustine & Tomas Aquinas were the two famous philosophers of the early & the late periods of Middle Ages that had most influenced the paintings of this ages. Saint Augustine’s divinely Christian teaching linked Christian teachings with that of the Plato and Neoplatonism’s theology, during the whole Middle Ages. Through his divinely theory, the church became the most powerful and influential reference of Christian world to lead people towards the heavenly world, welfare and prosperity; the prosperity which is nothing but depicting God, whose existence is the reason behind all the world beauties.  Augustine’s divinely teachings, which were based on the transcendence of the mankind and seeking for the way towards the heavenly world, endowed the arts of the Middle Ages with a divine and metaphysical outlook. Paying attention to the physical world was not considered materialistic and objective, but was a way of conceiving the higher, celestial aspect of things. He believed that these material objects are the reflections of the spiritual world. So his beliefs were based upon proportion and unity (the unity of the whole and the part), and that everything should portray a perfect image just like the spiritual ones. During the 13th century and with the emergence of Franciscans and Dominicans orders, particularly the great Scholastic philosopher of the day, i.e. Saint Tomas Aquinas, a revolution happened in church teachings. At this point of time, also considered a type of revival of the Aristotle’s philosophy, people like Saint Tomas Aquinas were seeking ways of adapting philosophical concepts with Christian teachings. Therefore, this time period might be deemed as the age of successful association of religion, philosophy and art. Following the previous ideals, Aquinas emphasized on teaching art as a medium for helping the human race attain prosperity, but he propounded that paying attention to concrete, material things is the prelude to recognize the spiritual. It should be noted that the influence of such belief is noticeable in the artworks created towards the end of late thirteen and then in fifteen centuries. He was of the opinion that beauty has three prerequisites: perfection, proportion and clarity. Such theories affected the appearance of the statues that were created after the thirteen century. Although these statues still lacked anatomic characteristics of their Renaissance counterparts; however, they seem more real as compared to previous centuries. It means that during this time span, and under the influence of Aquinas’s teachings, we can see more real dispositions as well as intrinsic emotional characteristics even in the statues and portraits of the saints. Ultimately it could be said that the pre- thirteen centuries paintings are of spiritual and metaphysical outlook while after the thirteenth century, these paintings take more material and personal perspectives and thus make way for the advent of Renaissance. This research has taken descriptive- analytic method to study two different eras in Middle Ages, and answer these questions: What are the differences of Augustine and Aquinas’s ideas about art? What influences did they leave on the art of painting in the Middle Ages? And finally, what are the differences of the paintings created during the early Middle Ages as compared to those created towards the end of the eras? Moreover, the essay aims to review the thoughts and beliefs of the two abovementioned philosophers and analyze their influence over the painting styles of the Middle Ages. The conclusions indicated that before the thirteenth century, features such as attention to spiritual world, simplicity, lack of perspective, transparence and brightness of colors, proportion, unity and generally an ideal form of art developed under the influence of Augustine. But after the thirteen century, while the previous characteristics were being still employed in the paintings, under the influence of Aquinas’s theories, some earthly and emotional aspects were added to the paintings of the time through paying attention to the development of spirit from the physical to the spiritual world and the use of intellect and faith as the two ways of perception.

Iran and China, as two territories boasting of a great and rich art and cultural background, have always been the most influential among the world countries throughout the history. The historical background, identity and nobility have been their commonality and during their long historical path, the inhabitants of the two geographical boundaries have sometimes experienced close and profound interactions. The era of the influential Sino-Iranian interactions was concurrent with the development of the most important and one of the most magnificent styles of Persian illustration, i.e. Herat School. Herat School is the sum total of the arts and cultural values of the preceding schools of Bagdad, Tabriz and Shiraz. Nurtured within the aforementioned schools, the Herat School became the antecedent of Tabriz II School resulting in efflorescence of art and the formation, emergence and stability of Safavid art of Isfahan School. The share of Chinese illustration styles on the Illustration techniques of the Timurid era is still shrouded in mystery and its technical and historical dimensions, details and stylistics has to be precisely surveyed. On the other hand, the analysis of the arts, cultural and historical circumstances of the Timurid era related to China, contributes to the clarification of the extent and way in which the artists welcomed the Chinese illustration techniques. The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was heir to great, important eras of Tang (618-906), Song (960-1279), Yuan (1260-1368) dynasties. This era, coincident with the rule of the Timurids in Iran, is known as the victorious return to the national sovereignty in China. Relations on the western Chinese borders were very friendly to which the exchange of ambassadors and political delegations testified. The kinship and historical affinities of the two cultures in the areas of history, literature and religion (Islam) in China and Iran - Ming dynasty of China and the Timurids of Iran - developed relations that can be explored using the available resources. Moreover, such relations have been well reflected in the artworks of the two countries. The geographical scope and time span of the research encompass Iran during the Timurid period (1507-1370 AD), and the Ming period in China, but in order to observe the approximate synchronicity , the beginning of the Ming era (1368) to the end of the tenth Ming Emperor Hong Ji (1505) has been selected for study. The year 1505 is approximately concurrent with the end of the Timurid period and the beginning of Safavid rule in Iran. Comprehensive and methodological examination of graphical relations of the two regions – Iran and China –in a specific time span contributes to the more profound and precise recognition of the visual arts and their historical root. Besides, it helps clarify the process of evolution of the visual culture in the light of historical communications. The paper mainly intends to make a comparative study of the illustration styles in a part of the immediate history of Iran and China - the Timurid Iran and part of the Ming period in China. Such goal may be achieved through studying the historical factors influencing the mutual interactions to be followed by analyzing the works of illustration in both the cultures. The research is theoretical in terms of objective and descriptive-comparative in terms of method. The study first deals with the general research guidelines including the research literature. Then it continues to review historical documents of Iran and China to find the historical roots and causes of communication and interaction. In general, the research data is presented in two forms: a) historical data gathered through the study of valid historical as well as written, visual and electronic sources. In this section, the principal method of research is descriptive-historical; b) historical data which, based on their sources, are categorized as images and are gathered through library or electronic sources. Such visual data are studied using a comparative approach and their splitting them to bits and pieces help discover their visual structure and consequently, their comparative meanings. The information required to conduct this study has been mostly collected through desk study of library sources such as books, treaties, dissertations, research papers, essays, visual and electronic data related to the illustrations of Timurid Iran, as well those of the Chinese Ming era and surveying the relationships between them. Due to the "problem-oriented" nature of this research, the images have been selected based on their visual features and content.  When taking a visual-orientation approach, the images are selected based on their visual structure whereas when content is considered, ‘concept’ is the basis of selection.   The present research seeks to find answers to the following questions. How were the relations of Iran of Timurid era with China of the Ming rule? In this possible interaction, how was Iran’s visual culture affected by its Chinese counterpart? What are the common signs and symbols in the selected samples? Due to the problem-oriented nature of the research, those prominent artists have been chosen for the purpose of this study who are representative of their own viewpoint and school of thought and their works are considered as documents testifying to the existing relationship between the illustrations styles of Iran and China during the aforementioned period. The paper comes to this conclusion that despite the existing official relationship between Iran and China since the Parthian period in Iran, concurrent with the reign of Western Han in China, the Chinese visual arts have influenced the Iranian illustration styles to the end of Timurid’s period in Iran (concurrent with the rule of Ming dynasty in China). From among those Timurid period samples studied, the most influential contribution was from Tang, northern Song and Ming eras.

Located in the Western part of Iran, Kermanshah is one of the most important provinces of the country from archaeological and historical perspective. In a number of cities of Kermanshah including West Islamabad, Sar-e Pol-e Zahab and West Kerend, remaining of gravestones have been found that represent the same culture belonging to Gooran tribe in these areas. These gravestones are remarkable in that they depict different motifs including images of human beings, animals and plants as well as equipment and tools; all of which reflect the culture and worldview of the people of this region. The motifs of Kermanshah’s Gooran tribe historic gravestones reflect the social and personal standing of the deceased both in the tribal and rural society of his time. Furthermore, there is a direct correlation between the good characteristics of the departed and the gravestones’ motifs and symbols which the survivors used as a reminder of such features. This research has been conducted through both field study and the use of written sources (comparison with the gravestones in other regions). In this article, efforts have been made to provide an introduction on the abovementioned sites, review and study the gravestones’ motifs, and make a concise comparison with other similar gravestones and contemporary cemeteries in Abdanan city in Ilam, Dar al-Salaam cemetery in Fars province as well as Kuhdasht cemetery in Lorestan province.  In this article, we seek to identify and introduce the corners of culture of this oblivious area. The study areas included the Tombstones of four cemeteries in Islamabad West, in the villages (Barze 2, Chefte 3, Asheghan and Chenar 4), dating to the late Islamic era. Belonging to the twelve to fourteen centuries AH, and the rule of Zand, Qajar and Pahlavi eras, these cemeteries are located in the region of the Great Gooran and Kalhor tribes in the Islamabad West. Gooran is one of the great Iranian tribes living in Kermanshah province whose members speak Kurdish (Goorani dialect). The tribe inhabits vast areas of Kermanshah province (Sarpol Zahab, Qasr-e Shirin, West Islamabad and West Kerand. Kalhor is the largest tribe in Kermanshah and the second largest in Iran who are mainly settled in West Gilan and West Islamabad. The motifs on the tombstones of Gooran tribe can be divided into different categories. It seems that these images are in some way related to the beliefs of the immortality of the ghost and are definitely influenced by religious beliefs, narratives and cultural beliefs. Plant and animal motifs in many of the tombstones have a special place. Since ancient times, trees have been considered as the reflection of the whole human landscape and his deepest desires. In the world of human beliefs, tree is a symbol of birth and development and life in general and has found holy effects. The plant motifs of Gooran tribe’s tombstones include images of trees such as cedar and coarse foliage decoration, which are exquisitely engraved on the gravestones. Animal designs are among other motifs to be found on the gravestones of this region and can be divided into three general categories: 1. Beasts, 2.Aquatics, 3.Birds. Among these, motifs of horses attract more attention as compared to other ones. The image of a horse with a rider while working or alongside motifs of objects and tools or alonely is drawn on the gravestones of these cemeteries. This animal holds a very valuable and praiseworthy place in pre-Islamic mythology, ancient religious texts, Shahnameh and indigenous cultures. Apart from their common use for transportation and hunting, horses were also used in ceremonial functions, military, festive, decorative and ritual activities as well. By comparing the images of these cemeteries with contemporary cemeteries in other parts of Iran, we find that Gooran tribe’s gravestones in Islamabad West have significant differences and similarities with those motifs of other parts of Iran. Such differences could be summarized as follows: In Islamabad’s tombstones, we find human motifs of men and women dressed in Qajar clothes having long hair; while the human designs in the Dar al- Salaam cemetery in Shiraz are much less significant and different. However, the motifs found on the tombstones of Koohdasht and Abdanan Ilam cemeteries are most similar with Islamabad Cemetery in terms of human designs. Animal motifs (mountain goats, deers, lions and horses), tools and equipment found on the tombstones of Kalhor tribe in Islamabad like Abdanan cemetery are much more diverse than those of Kohdasht and Dar al-Salaam cemeteries. The inscriptions on the tombstones in Dar al-Salaam cemetery in Shiraz are more diverse as compared to those found in Islamabad, Koohdasht and Abdanan.

Buraq- the Prophet's horse in Ascension night (Miraj)- is a rare example of mythological animals which served as the mediator for the realization of human supernatural experiences. In the oldest existing Islamic accounts on the Ascension, this steed has been mentioned; although there are numerous differences in the details and descriptions of the subject matter. Most narrations depict a white animal the size of which is between a mule and donkey. It has red eyes and there are two wings located around its thighs. This steed rides the scope of its vision in each of its steps. There are other narratives that portray Buraq as the steed for other prophets as well, especially Abraham. This paper aims to study the evolution of the Buraq image from the 7th to the 13th centuries AH, and answer this question that what visual developments the Buraq’s image has undergone since the Ilkhanids rule to the Qajars? In this research, 10 books of ‘Mirajnameh’ dating back to 7th-13th century AH were studied. According to the selected Buraq images, the process of formation of Buraq’s body parts might be classified into three general groups based on visual characteristics: the wingless, the winged and the one possessing the tail of the Sassanid Simurgh peacock. In the abovementioned historical periods, Buraq has been depicted as a creature possessing a human being’s upper body the lower body similar to a horse, with a feminine face, long and crowned hair, having elegant, long, slender and strong, moving legs, and the face and limbs shown in three quarter views. The differences include the appearance of the tail: the Ilkhanid’s Buraq has a thick and short tail; the Timurid’s Buraq has a longer yet thinner one while the Safavid’s Buraq and in particular the Qajar’s, has tail similar to that of a peacock. In paintings of the Timurid period, Buraq has a sparkling, charming, round and angel-like face, hair hanging down from head sides with the end of the hair round in shape and Buddhist style, stretched earlobes. It is portrayed wearing Mongolian golden hat, the shape and color of which differs in some paintings. In Miraj miniature created by Sultan Muhammad, ‘the Prophet riding Buraq’, all the principles of illustrating the horse and riding has been observed beautifully, as if Buraq is floating weightlessly in space. Buraq wears Safavid hat on his head and his body is depicted very strong and powerful. Its body color is transparent with legs slightly darker while the under the throat shines. Till this point of time and in these versions of narrations, the Buraq is wingless. Buraq appears with two wings at the beginning, but in Timurid and Safavid versions, it is portrayed wingless while its Qajar version is winged. The paper comes to this conclusion that the image of Buraq in this period has been relatively influenced by Quranic verses and narrations. Often Buraq is illustrated in three quarter view with its ornaments corresponding to the prevailing characteristics of its respective historical era. The Mongolian face is the characteristic of the Illkhanid period while the Buraq of Tabriz II School of painting has a fit body as compared to the Buraq of the Herat school miniatures. It is elegant and beautiful, with more decorations. This Buraq is more vibrant in color and dynamic in movements and thus suggests the state of happiness, quick movements and ascension more to appear more imaginary and abstract. If Buraq is illustrated beautifully in some miniatures of Herat school paintings and glorious in others, the Buraq illustrators of Tabriz II School - particularly Sultan Mohammad - have combined beauty and splendor into one form. Due to the illustrator’s personal impressions, folk beliefs and oral culture in the narration of the story of ascension on one hand, and impact of the western art style on the painters on the other, we are witness to changes in Buraq’s drawing during the Qajar era. In this period, the Buraq is fat, wearing a long Qajar crown on head. Interestingly, peacock had turned to a symbol of the Shi'a tradition and was considered a bird from paradise, so the use of peacock’s tail became a main characteristic of Buraq and was exaggerated in the pictures. Putting feminine head on a thick neck for Buraq decreased the elegancy of the paintings during the Qajar reign, thus indicating the reducting of the artists’ attention to religious texts. The research has been conducted through descriptive-analytical method and the desk study of library sources.

Despite the existence of abstract motifs in Iranian carpets, lots of mysteries are hidden behind these designs. Various designs and patterns of each era is a reflection of the conditions of the time. Although some historical periods are close to the contemporary era, yet few carpets created in that time span have survived. Therefore, the researchers have to explore other visual artworks and find images of carpets among them. The carpets depicted in the paintings are different from those in the museums because they represent images of hand-woven carpets that are no more functional yet they could be examined in a discursive context as an artistic text. There are evident changes in the illustrated carpet designs in the paintings of the rulers and royal families of the middle of the twelfth to thirteenth century AH. Apparently, there is a direct relationship between the design of visual principles used in the carpet motifs as well as some other works of art in Naderi, Zand and Qajar dynasties with the kings’ temperaments. Doing some research on this subject, while making possible a social study through the analysis of artwork, is important because it will also contribute to the development of professional knowledge in the those areas regarding carpet design which have been neglected. Thus, given the lack of research resources in this field, especially in Afshar and Zand periods, the visual analysis of carpet motifs in paintings can help compensate part of this shortage. It seems that the various social and cultural dimensions of Afshar, Zand and Qajar periods are reflected in the application of the visual principles and design of motifs through choosing the carpets design associated with the portraits of the three main kings of these epochs. The study has been conducted through comparative, descriptive-analytical method and using reflection approach for data analysis. The data required has been collected through desk study of library sources followed by data analysis. The files collected were reliable tools for the present study. Meanwhile, this paper relies on the "reflection approach" in analyzing data because part of the findings of this paper is related to artistic works that can only be analyzed in the context of this approach. In order to analyze the data and find out the relationship between the visual principles of the carpet motifs, the social conditions and kings' temperaments in each period, several steps have been defined. At first, the carpet’s appearance has been descried through which, the hidden layer and foundation basis has been analyzed. The statistical population includes portraits of three kings from the three successive historical periods of Afshar, Zand and Qajar, which have been chosen purposefully. Single portrait painting tradition of the kings flourished during the Afshar period and reached its zenith in Qajar era, particularly during Fath Ali Shah’s reign. The comparative study of the carpets depicted in similar images from Afshar, Zand and Qajar eras illustrating portraits of kings and princes contain sociological information. The actual reflection of carpet designs in the paintings facilitates the study of the motifs’ process of evolution. The Afshar era in Iran is well known for Nader Shah and his endeavors. When Nader Shah succeeded to the throne, Iran had just been relieved of Afghan’s war and plunder. Fights and wars that happened during this time led to the emergence of a special age in Iranian art. On the other hand, Karim Khan's unique character and way of administration and ultimately, Fath Ali Shah's mental and emotional dimensions are among the important features influencing the formation of carpet motifs. All these factors put together resulted in the creation of illustrative yet different pieces of art. The comparative study of motifs in the portraits of the three kings indicates a direct relationship between the personalities and temperaments of the kings with the arrangement of the artworks’ components particularly the painted carpets. The kings’ moods and dispositions are even noticeable in their portraits: Nader Shah is sitting on firmly on his knees and is looking seriously at the painter. Karim Khan Zand is depicted informally while using hookah. The painting has portrayed his real life style and not an ideal one. Finally, Fath Ali Shah’s portrait is the reflection of his perfectionist approach and his specific temperament. As a superstructure, art represents the tastes and temperaments of the kings and the clients. Finally, in addition to decoding the analogy of the illustrated carpets, the study of the portraits of these three kings testified to the reflection theory proving that the dimensions and design of carpets are reflections of the paintings’ subjects while the motifs convey the character, tendencies and tastes of the Kings to the audience. In other words, the motifs and designs of the painted carpets reflect Nadir Shah Afshar’s interest in Hindi art and culture; Karim Khan’s tendency towards ethnic, folk culture as well as simple life and Fath Ali Shah Qajar’s love of luxurious life and self-glorification.

Shortly after its creation by the residents of Shiraz city and called "Naskh Taliq", Nastaliq script was used by several calligraphers at the Jalairid court, Mir Ali-ibn Elias Tabrizi and Marouf Baghdadi. Moreover, there are some samples of Nastaliq script written by Mir Ali-ibn-Hasan Soltani and Najmuddin Karkhini in Tabriz (Jalairids’ winter capital). Benefitting from the skills of Mozaffarid and Jalairid artists and the experiences they had gained in bibliopegy workshops, the Timurids also belonged to the line of pro-scholarly-literary heritage and Nastaliq calligraphy with whose support, the artists of conquered territories were transferred to the centers of their rule that led to the exchange of their artistic achievements with the artists of the new lands. Through establishing institutions in these centers, including libraries, workshops and high schools often presided over by calligraphers; the Timurids directly influenced the art of calligraphy and Nastaliq in particular. While developing a system of arts education based on "master-student" method, these institutions of the era contributed to the promotion of the state religion and well represented the favored history and literature of the Timurid rulers through employing the powerful medium of Nastaliq calligraphy in communicating the governmental decrees and rules in the most beautiful form, not only to the local community but also beyond the national borders to the rulers of other nations. It was the same skill that brought respect and authority for calligraphers at the highest levels of government and made the Timurid princes such as Iskander Sultan, Ebrahim Mirza, Baysonqor Mirza and even Shahrokh vying for adept calligraphers, which in turn prompted dynamism and competiveness among the institutions and calligraphy schools and encouraged the employment and training of calligraphers. During the reign of Shahrokh and his son, Baysonqor Mirza, Herat was one of these centers that bore witness to the competition of the best calligraphers of the Nastaliq style (Mirza Ja'far Tabrizi, Mohammad-ibn-Hessam and Maruf Baghdadi) and their following art movements. Summoning of the prominent calligraphers and artists of Baghdad and Tabriz bibliopegy workshops and their employment in the institutions paved the ground for the transfer of the experiences and achievements to Shiraz and Herat. The most important of such summoning was Marouf Baghdadi’s call to Shiraz followed by Herat which profoundly affected the calligraphers of these centers. Ibrahim Mirza’s library in Shiraz which was heir to Iskander Sultan's bibliopegy traditions was superior to Herat at the time; nonetheless, through summoning Mirza Jafar Tabrizi from Tabriz to Herat, Baysonqor Mirza imbued new spirit to Herat and Shiraz’s artistic competition scene. The newcomer Mirza Ja'far Tabrizi becomes a rival of Mohammad-ibn-Hessam, the student of Marouf Baghdadi and Baysonqor Mirza’s tutor. This confrontation is also somehow regarded a competition between the Tabrizi and Shirazi-Baghdadi styles of Nastaliq. The most significant difference between the two styles is the increase of the proportion of size, decrease in the letters’ roundness and the transfer of the center of gravity of the standing meditates and bowls to the middle in Tabrizi style as compared to Baghdadi-Shirazi. Keeping in view the works survived, although Tabrizi and Baghdadi styles have both been influenced by Shirazi style, it seems that the more active Jalaierid bibliopegy workshop in Baghdad, was mostly influenced by Shirazi style and hence, could be considered something between Tabrizi and Shirazi Nastaliq calligraphy styles. Many years later, after Baysonqor Mirza's displeasure with Marouf Baghdadi and his miserable death, Mirza Jafar Tabrizi who was then presiding over the Baysonqor's court library and his followers overcame the rivals with writing Nastaliq script continuing in his and his students' style, Marouf was no more mentioned anymore and the supporters of Marouf and his student, Mohammad ibn Hessam, were marginalized. This paper aims to examine the initial changes of Nastaliq calligraphy as one of the most brilliant achievements of Islamic art in Iran and also seek answer to this question that to which art movements does the flourishment of writing Nastaliq script owe at the beginning of Timurids’ reign? Therefore, a historical-comparative is employed to analyze, compare and explain the issue based on the existing evidences and documents. To this end, the evidence required to assess the underlying factors have been collected and examined in historical and socio-cultural context. Moreover, sufficient accuracy will be provided for the identification of the evidence for further accreditation. Therefore, data has been collected through desk study of library resources.   This research reveals the interest of the Timurid princes in writing as well as using Nastaliq script for that purpose as well as the existence of two rival and powerful Nastaliq calligraphy movements in Shahrokh's court and his son Baysonqor Mirza led by Shams Baysonqori, Marouf Baghdadi and Mirza Jafar Baysonqori also influenced by earlier regional Nastaliq calligraphy styles (Shiraz-Baghdad and Tabriz). Despite triumph over the rivals, the writing Nastaliq styles attributed to Mirza Jafar Tabrizi faced difficulties towards the end of the 9th century AH in the western regions of Iran who later became known as calligraphers of the western style of writing Nastaliq.

For the past 600 years, Nastaliq style has been popular in Iran and in a small-scale, in some other countries. During this time, it has been continuously evolving and its numerous manifestation have appeared in different forms including Ketabat, Chlipa, Siahmashgh, Ghateh Nevisi, etc. This style, along with literature and other Iranian arts such as painting, has developed a special structure and geometrical system that has led to the development of endless varieties of composition in words, lines, and pages. It has also become so solid, consistent, and appealing that in spite of the existence of various written mediums and presentation of different styles, while preserving its original status, it is still popular and is used. Despite the efforts made by great Iranian calligraphers, and the numerous volumes of treaties written on calligraphy as well as the research studies conducted in this area, still the lack of recognition of the proportion of letters in Nastaliq is felt. In the contemporary occasional studies, only the golden ratio has been mentioned as the proportional ratio of this style while considering the variety of letters’ form and the possibility of creating various compositions, it seems that several different geometrical dispositions and proportional ratios should have been used in this style. Elucidation of these proportional ratios in the letters of Nastaliq style is the most important issue investigated in the present paper. The paper aims to identify the proportional ratios of Nastaliq style so as to better appreciate the quality and merits of this art and pave the way for organizing discussions on the issue, analyse the style and facilitate its methodical teaching. These are some of the shortages of calligraphy in Iran today and its urgency is felt. For instance, Nastaliq orthography books do not teach the art methodically. In these books, Nastaliq and anything related to it seem to be proven methods and most of the students mimic them without any contemplation or reflection. So, many art students achieve their goals on the path late because they are not taught methodologically or some who have achieved it, they stop right there. Therefore, creative endeavours are scarcely seen in this art. Consequently, conducting this research is both important and essential due to the fact that being aware of the geometrical system of Nastaliq style: 1) can contribute to the methodological teaching of Nastaliq calligraphy and shorten the long period of learning the art; 2) due to the fact that Nastaliq style has replaced the common Naskh style in the elementary students' textbooks in recent years, it can help better teach the style to these students; 3) it can serve as a basis for systematic and methodological design of fonts and its teaching at schools and universities because lacking proper information on the basics and geometry of Persian calligraphy styles has resulted in using the basics of Latin letters’ style in designing Persian fonts; 4) it can make this style harmonious with the geometrical structures of image displays and thus, play an effective role in new mediums of transferring written texts; 5) through understanding the geometrical system of calligraphy including Nastaliq style, facilitate reading of the calligraphic and printed texts in an electronic software; and 6) via understanding the geometrical system of Nastaliq, provide opportunities to recognize original and copies of calligraphy works. Considering the problems arising from non-identification of proportional ratios of Nastaliq style in various applications, this study might be considered applied research in applications. Furthermore, the study is qualitative in terms of research data and since many factors are involved in forming such proportions, the research can be considered analytic. The research data have been obtained through reviewing printed and electronic sources as well as manuscripts. The sample letters studied have been selected and extracted from Hamd Surah of Quran written in calligraphy by Mir Emad, which is considered his masterpiece. Hence, sampling has been made purposefully because Mir Emad is an unparalleled master of Nastaliq calligraphy and it seems that the letters written by him in the form of calligraphy possess exquisite beauty and symmetry.   Review of previous and contemporary works on elucidating proportional ratios in Nastaliq style shows that there have been two types of studies have been conducted on proportions in Nastaliq style. In the volumes of treaties written on calligraphy, ‘point’ and ‘Alif’ letter are considered as the base of Nastaliq proportions, but nowadays, the emphasis is more on golden ratio. This is an indication of the obvious difference in elucidating proportions of this style in the different eras. It also shows a historical break-up in determining the base of proportions in the art of Nastaliq calligraphy in a way that currently, this original Iranian art is studied through western criteria for art. In this paper, the researcher refers to the basics of proportions of Nastaliq referred to in the volumes of treaties written on calligraphy and uses ‘point’ and ‘Alif’ letter as the foundation of analysis. The researcher also presents proportions used in the geometry of all Iranian arts including calligraphy. In circles, √2 proportion has been observed due to its compactness while most of the lower case (small) letters and other numerous proportions such as √6, √9, etc. have been used in Keshide cases. Due to the variety and complexity of letters’ forms, the possibility of creating too many compositions and association with different geometrical proportions, Nastaliq cannot be limited to a specific system. The advantage of this style is that several proportional ratios can be used in the letters of this style simultaneously. Moreover, the use of various geometrical systems has added to the scope of creativity and attraction of this style.