نشریه نگارینه هنر اسلامی
پیاپی 22 (پاییز و زمستان 1400)

The tree has a special sanctity and importance in the belief of Muslims and because of its many references to it in the Quran and Hadiths. One of these reasons is the presence of the tree in the creation of Adam and Eve and their involvement in their destiny. There has been a close connection between man and the tree since the beginning of creation. In mythological cultures and in various religions, sometimes mythical trees are combined with other creatures such as humans and animals, and a new tree is created with extraordinary appearance and abilities. Many concepts and metaphors of the tree have been expressed in the narrations and speech’s Islamic scholars. This research has been done to investigate different narrations of the descriptions of these religious-mythical trees and their correspondence with the existing miniatures. The questions raised are: What are the symbolic meanings of the trees of Zaqqum, Tuba and Sidrat-al-Muntaha in Muslim belief Are the reflections of these concepts in the related painting appropriate to the descriptive texts The tree in Islamic beliefs has conflicting symbolic meanings, evoking both the symbol of hell (the tree of Zaqqum) and the concept of paradise (the tree of Tuba and Sidrat al-Muntaha). These trees have been explained in the Quran and Hadiths with various descriptions. Contrary to what has been repeatedly depicted in Islamic painting, the depiction of these three extraordinary trees has rarely been done. The tree of Zaqqum is a symbol of hell and a means of punishing sinners and its place in the depths of hell. In contrast, Tuba and Sidrat al-Muntaha are allegories of paradise and its gifts that are in the heavens. This metaphor is precisely displayed in a number of drawings. This interpretation and analysis of the confrontation between these trees also applies to their location in the universe, as mentioned in the narrations, their position at the top and bottom of the universe is also depicted in the existing painting in the same way. On the other hand, the metaphorical opposition of trees to each other evokes the concept of duality and the opposition of "Good" and "Evil". Some narrators and sages consider the Tuba tree to be the same overturned tree described in mythological and cosmic cultures with its own abilities and characteristics. In some paintings, this tree is sanctified, decorated and accompanied by Quranic verses or the names of God and the names of the Prophet (PBUH), Imam Ali (AS) and his companions. Unlike other religious subjects that have been frequently seen and reproduced in painting, the depiction of these trees has been abused and rarely shown. In any case, it seems that in almost all cases, the images are in harmony with the descriptive texts and narratives of these trees, and the illustrator has been faithful to the texts and Hadiths. The research method used for this research is descriptive and somewhat analytical and the required information and data have been obtained through authoritative scientific books and websites.

Although semiotics originated in linguistics, it was quickly adopted in the arts, literature, and social sciences. Semiotics is highly efficient at interpreting works of art because it sees them as a cultural system and investigates the hidden codes and concepts in them. The purpose of this study is to look at the decorative patterns on the Roshan Abad building in Gorgan from a semiotic standpoint, as they appear to be inspired by Attar's Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr poem's mystical allegories. The motifs of the Roshan Abad building are then assessed, as different animal motifs can be found among the decorative patterns of this structure, which are much more prominent symbolically than other motifs. The relationship between the intended motifs and mystical symbols expressed in Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr is first explored and analyzed from a semiotic standpoint for this aim. This is a descriptive and analytical study that uses a qualitative data analysis approach. The data on the sample under study is gained by direct and descriptive observation; however, the data on historical motifs is gathered through documentary and library approaches. The findings reveal a strong link between the patterns and mystical symbols found in Attar's Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr. Designers' perceptions of these topics were embodied in these motifs, implying their mental imagery.

The art of handmade paper is the traditional and cultural heritage, which has been the product of many years' genius and talent of handmade paper artists and makers. Nowadays the production and usage of this art especially among artists is very limited and sometimes forgotten. But, contrary to what happened in Iran, this art has not been forgotten in other countries and has continued to grow alongside machine paper.The main objective of the paper is to study and analyze the desirable, existing, and damages of handmade paper art, and try to answer the question of how can traditional handmade papers be adapted to the needs of today's society The obtained data has been examined using a descriptive-analytical method with the pathological approach, and research findings are collected from library and interviews with11 experts in this art.The result of the research is showed this art has forgotten over time because of the limited producers, lack of skillful specialists, and the monopoly of teaching by professors. Other factors such as poor quality, variety, and texture, the lengthy and cumbersome production process traditionally expensive raw materials, and lack of Governmental and private supporters for financial and spiritual support are caused to have kept artists and paper makers away from consumption and production.There are some advantages by applying a variety of methods, such as advertising through social media, exhibitions, university training, used by prominent artists and masters, in-person marketing, mass production, and acquainting artists with the aesthetic and diverse uses of handmade paper for solving of this damages and development of this art among the people. Also, by applying some standards based on the artist's needs, we can produce high-quality papers, appropriate textures, and sizes for them. The use of new techniques and technologies based on preserving the originality of traditional paper art will be effective in accelerating production processes, mass production, and lowering production time and cost. In addition establishing associations, biennials, paper conferences, and Supporting government agencies and investment organizations help to contributes to the coherence of a group of papermakers and paper artists to present their work and create competition and brainstorm.

In addition to aesthetic features, works of art also reflect the socio-cultural relations of the producing context. In Gilan, many holy shrines accommodate murals that belong to the Safavid period. On the other side, Karkia Shahnameh was written in the 15th century AD in the city of Lahijan. This Shahnameh is illustrated in the style of Turkmen painting in Shiraz. This paper as the descriptive-analytical study queries the similarities and differences between the designs of Karkia Shahnameh and the murals of the holy shrines. The data collection method is based on library review, and data analysis was conducted qualitatively. The research findings show that there are some distinctive similarities between mural paintings of the studied holy shrines and portrays of the Karkia Shahnameh, so that the semiotic spaces of Shiite culture is a part of it. Both paintings have common symbolic motifs such as dragon, sun, crown and cypress tree. The motif of the sun is used in the same sense in both paintings, but the role of the dragon has a completely opposite meaning. The motif of the crown in both paintings also means kingship, power, and celestial splendor. The cypress tree also has common meanings, all of which are rooted in Iranian cultural beliefs. Although those mentioned signs almost rooted in the Iranian culture, the unique representation of the symbols in each specific artistic work (murals or book illustration) convey distinguishable meanings due to the relations with other signs within the executed context.

In recent years, many damages and dangers have threatened the designs and decorations of Qajar period buildings in the country. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the protection of these motifs. In the present study, the decorations and paintings of Haj Ghasemi's house in Nava Larijan region have been studied, which is a specific example of Qajar period housing. The purpose of this study is to study and analyze the style of decorations, subjects and present the proposed analysis in a comparative manner with examples from this period. The most important question in this study was to know the background, commonalities and differences of the designs, as well as the factors that formed it. Therefore, the description of the house, the description of the drawings and the method of decorating, as well as its comparison with similar examples were examined. The proposed chronology, thematic discussion and reasoning of the designs and the reason for their attribution to the middle of the Qajar period were also discussed in this article. The approach of the article is historical and the research method is descriptive-analytical with a comparative analysis. Due to the residential function of the building, the motifs with various plant, animal and monochrome themes of male and female and Ms. Qajari were observed in it. The results showed that there was no significant similarity between the designs of this building and other contemporary buildings in this region and Amol city, which could indicate the distinct origin of the creators of these designs. At the end, suggestions were made to create a culture and protect this building.

Brick is one of the most important building materials in Iranian architecture, with a notable appearance throughout the Islamic period. In the realm of brickwork, the Seljuk, Qajar, and Pahlavi periods are noteworthy. The scope of this paper is to recognize the external brickwork decorations of historic Qajar and Pahlavi buildings in Birjand, as well as the social and cultural aspects that influence them. So, the paper queries what are the brick decorations of Qajar and Pahlavi structures in Birjand, and which social and cultural events influenced them The research method is descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is library and especially field studies. Findings show that the brick forms of Birjand buildings include pilaster, door arches, windows and casing and pediment. Also decorative brick patterns include verge, casing text, single elements and tracery of monuments. Patterns with various brick compositions such as cross, asleep, herringbone, and abstract that they have appeared next to each other. It also made clear that there were influences of socio-political events on brick ornamentation of the monuments of this study which is noteworthy to be mentioned of Birjand’s strategic location, as well as its commercial and pivotal role in defending Sistan’s territory and guarding the eastern borders during the Qajar period, the presence of tourists and agents as a result of the British invasion of India and proximity to Iran, the establishment of new schools, and the opening of the British Consulate in Birjand. The sale of the region's carpets on global markets resulted in economic prosperity, capital production, and merchants, resulting in the incorporation of European ornamentation into Birjand’s architecture. Thus, the architectural ornamentations were not just the outcome of artistic visions, rather the social, political and economic contexts influenced greatly on architecture as a venue for artistic manifestation in late 19th and early 20th century of Iran.

Iranian architectural art has many scientific and legal dimensions due to the association and cooperation of architects with Islamic scientists. In the fourth century AH, architecture was associated with the emergence of scientists such as the Akhavan Alsafa with the presentation of mathematical treatises, specialized professions and geometric foundations, which has further emphasized the possibility of connecting modern science with the foundations of the specialized profession of architecture. The existence and presence of manuscripts of that period as well as scientific, geometric, mathematical and specialized references in the category of building construction in this version have been proved. The main point and purpose in addressing this issue is the conceptual approach of these scientists to the subject of geometry in the specialized profession of architecture, which in their historical period has interpreted the concept of geometry and defined for the application of the specialized profession of architecture. The main question in this article is to know the concepts and topics of geometry that Akhavan Al-Safa has discussed and introduced in connection with the specialized profession of architecture. This issue is addressed to the science of erecting architecture from its specialized profession, based on issued mathematical and geometric concepts. The research method in this article is considering the subject of geometry in the mathematics of the Akhavan Alsafa and their thoughtful and philosophical cases, which is an interpretive and historical method in dealing with the manuscript of the Akhavan Alsafa and the specialized profession of the building. In the discussion of analyzing the foundations and finding the architecture of geometric ideas, deductive reasoning has been used in this regard. The Akhavan Alsafa has introduced geometry as a quantitative and sensible qualitative field, which has addressed the specialized profession of architecture for human beings with physical and spiritual aspects. Geometric forms and shapes in the specialized profession of architecture are introduced from numbers and positive mathematical structure and from the perspective of the function of various human dimensions. The sanctity of numbers and basis forms in function is based on the rational rule of mathematics, which has proof from the perspective of numerical equations. Basic numbers are introduced as one, two, three and four, and each has its own function and method of expansion based on its own proportional equations of numerical geometry. In the Fermi world, points, lines, circles, triangles, squares, words, and geometric patterns have a similar function. Geometry in the specialized profession of architecture According to the theories of the Akhavan Alsafa in converting numbers into the position of theoretical geometry, it should be considered that the user of the specialized profession of human architecture is with the physical field in the first level and the spiritual field in the next level. Practical geometry should be the answer to erecting an architectural structure for human beings in order to meet the physical need and then the spiritual foundations.

Wall painting in the Qajar period, in addition to the visual and decorative aspects, had a special communication function. The murals left in the valuable Qajar houses of Tabriz provide a unique context for exploring the capacities of this art media in accordance with the historical contexts and cultural developments of that period of history. This research is applied research in terms of purpose and is descriptive-analytical in terms of research methodology. The author grasped a qualitative approach to the query and utilized field studies and librarian methods of gathering the data. The research samples are consisted of the wall paintings that are identified in 11 Qajar historic houses of Tabriz city in the northwest of Iran. The main research query is what messages do the wall paintings convey to the observer In answer to this question, the analysis of the content, understanding of the explicit messages, and implications of these motifs and paintings has been considered by classifying the themes and evaluating their figurative and visual messages in accordance with their environment and architecture. The results show that there are a variety of themes in the murals of the reception hall rooms as the most important part of the architecture of houses. Moreover, the position of fireplaces is privileged based on murals. In addition, the largest number of painted subjects are related to "decorative plants", "flowers and plants", "flowers and vases", "nature-buildings" and "nature- human figure -buildings" in the wall painting, respectively. In these cases, the choice of subject matter has been greatly influenced by the social, cultural, religious and financial status of the client. More importantly, the influence of Western art in the presentation of various subjects is evident. The message of these murals implies that the employers or painters of these works were aware and up-to-date nobles. The use of motifs as an independent subject has enhanced their expressive function and helped to better convey the message of cultural originality of homeowners.

Interaction between the literary texts and illustrations has been considered as an important issue for miniaturists from a long time ago. Although miniaturists were mostly dedicated to the text in their work, sometimes it happened that illustrations were accompanied with exaggeration in epic and lyrical scenes. The Qarachqāy-Khān Shahnameh, as a case in point in this respect, is a renowned Safavid illustrated book of kings not considered seriously. The present research aims at studying the visual features of one the most well-known epic-lyrical stories in the Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Bijan and Manijeh, from the viewpoint of interaction between the images of this story with the text of the book. Bijan and Manijeh in the Shahnameh is a romantic narrative mostly been illustrated by miniaturists and illustrators, especially the episode in which Bijan is entrapped in a deep well and freed by Rostam, the epic hero of Shahnameh. In spite of the domination of epic elements in Shahnameh illustration, the mentioned story during the Safavid era is displayed by adopting new visual approaches in showing feelings and expressions, moments, and different aspects of nature and life. There are five separate images in relation to this story in the Qarachqāy-Khān Shahnameh. Regarding the traditional connection between Persian miniature painting and literary texts in Iran, the present research is to study the dominant visual elements in the illustrations of Bijan and Manijeh story in Qarachqāy-Khān Shahnameh, as well as to examine the quality of illustration such elements in the related images of the narrative. The main question to consider in this respect would be as follows: What are the visual features of Bijan and Manijeh images in the Qarachqāy-Khān Shahnameh and how are the story elements been illustrated in such images Adopting a descriptive method, the research will analyze the images on the basis of four main elements, including the illustration of events, characters and their role, setting, and the written poem (visual verse). To achieve better results, the essay has been divided into two parts. The first part is introducing the story of Bijan and Manijeh in Shahnameh besides its narrative elements, and the second one will analyze the illustrations and their manifestation in Qarachqāy-Khān Shahnameh. The results of the research, besides indicating perfect harmony among such elements and the text, show as well the illustrators’ attention to the lyrical aspects of the story, which could be regarded as an innovation in this Shahnameh. Furthermore, the present study shows the subtler aspects of life, such as displaying men and women’s relations, mutual affection, and feminine beauty. Regarding the romantic theme of the story, images have gone beyond the common features of a brave, elegant warrior, as seen in most illustrations of such books. The presence of Rostam and his heroic enterprises is also a part of this romantic story, being in conformity with the conclusion of the story.

One of the most significant Iranian architectural elements employed in the interior decoration of structures during the Great Khorasan era, before Islam, and the Islamic era is plaster design, which is renowned for its wide range of designs and superior craftsmanship. The closest comparable examples may be found in the Seljuk period. It appears that the plaster decorations of the Islamic period of Khorasan were produced based on the history of pre-Islamic plaster art. The two historical monuments of Robat Sharaf from the Seljuk era and Dargaz from the Sassanid era, which are the nearest landmarks of Khorasan in terms of time in both the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods, are the subject of this study. Plastering is one of its significant arrays. The majority of Sassand-era plastering structures can be found at the Dargaz Archaeological Site in northern Khorasan, which also displays the magnificence and splendor of that period's plastering culture. Additionally, Robat Sharaf holds a unique place in the history of Khorasan architecture during the Islamic era. This building is renowned throughout the world for its stunning gypsum arrays and their combination with brickwork, which is reminiscent of the continued practice of plastering from earlier times. The need for such research is highlighted by the paucity of research on the impact of Sassanid bedding art and the use of its motifs on buildings from the Islamic era in Khorasan. Consequently, the following inquiries are made in light of the significance of this matter in the development of Khorasan's art and architecture: what features, focusing on two renowned historical sites, distinguish the plaster patterns of the Sassanid and Seljuk eras in Khorasan What similarities and distinctions exist between them The analytical-comparison method was used in this study, and the findings demonstrate the stability of this art form after more than five centuries by demonstrating how many of the interior plaster decorations of the Robat Sharaf building, particularly in plant and geometric designs, are similar to Dargaz building.

In most cases, the study of the designs and motifs of historical Iranian textiles is made possible with the examination of visual arts as the dominant mode of textiles fade away over time. The Zand era in Iran has not been sufficiently studied in terms of arts perhaps because the Zand Dynasty’s rule was short-lived and less heritage remains from the time compared with the preceding (the Safavid) and the succeeding (the Qajar) eras. The purpose of this study was to analyze the designs and motifs of textiles used in the courtier men’s outerwear during the Zand era in Iran. The study question was posed as follows: how could we recover the designs and motifs of textiles used in Zand courtier men’s outerwear with the help of figurative paintings of the Zand era and their comparison with textiles remaining from the 18th and 19th centuries It was anticipated that following the art of the Safavid era or as an introduction to the Qajar art, the designs and motifs of the textiles could be defined in a wide range. With the help of library research, this descriptive-historical study included random sampling of seven Zand royal figurative paintings and comparison with nine pieces of textiles. In contrast with the study hypothesis, the results indicated that the courtier men in the Zand era used a combination of “Moharamat” and simple textiles in their turbans and cummerbunds. Moreover, they used simple or copying patterned textiles with vegetal motifs in their qabās, Katebis (waistcoats), and abās (cloaks). Therefore, it seems that unlike the variety of designs and motifs found in the men’s garments in the preceding and succeeding eras, they adopted a more limited mode to which they adhered.