Volume 7, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2023)
JIC 2023, 7(1): 49-60 |
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Allahyari S, Afshari M, Ghazizadeh K. (2023). Thematic analysis of the painting of Bahram Gur's with the dragon attributed to Kamal al-Din Behzad. JIC. 7(1), 49-60. doi:10.52547/jic.7.1.49
URL: http://jih-tabriziau.ir/article-1-275-en.html
URL: http://jih-tabriziau.ir/article-1-275-en.html
1- Ph.D. Student of comparative and analytical history of Islamic Art, Department of Islamic Art, Shahed University,
2- Department of Art Research, Department of Art Research, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. ,m_afshari700@yahoo.com
3- Department of Islamic Art, Department of Islamic Art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Art Research, Department of Art Research, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. ,
3- Department of Islamic Art, Department of Islamic Art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (3680 Views)
Abstract
In Iranian painting, the interpretation of an artist can also be studied through investigating the illustrations of fixed themes and texts by prominent painters. From this perspective, the interpretation of an artist's literary text is of great importance, and painters have used their personal interpretation of the original text in illustrating its various versions and have created additional meanings besides the theme of the work in the images.
Bahram's battle with the dragon is seen in most of the illustrated versions of Shahnameh and Khamseh Nizami due to its beauty and charm. In drawing the military Khamseh Nizami paintings in Herat school, painters have actually created another meaning in the paintings, which in fact shows the artist's authorship in drawing the military Khamseh Nizami scenes in that school. One of the paintings created by the artist as the author of a work has an added meaning. The illustration of "Bahram Gur's battle with the dragon" is attributed to Kamal al-Din Behzad in the Khamseh Nizami manuscript of the British Library. The current research aims to identify the meaning of the hidden layers in the image of Bahram Gur with the dragon by iconology method, and with documentary and library studies, it raises the question, "What layers of hidden meaning are there in the image of the battle of Bahram Gur with the dragon?"
The stage of pre-iconography involves the description and recognition of the apparent aspects of the artwork and the identification of the existing elements within the complex world of artistic structures. In the descriptive stage, there is necessarily no reference to the external world beyond the artwork itself. In the iconography stage, the world of codes hidden in the heart of the artwork is opened. This stage is entering the field of meaning, which is also known as metaphysical meaning, and is the result of the reactions induced in the viewer to the initial awareness of the art work. It connects artistic elements and motif compositions with their themes or concepts. In the stage of iconology, which is also known as content or intrinsic interpretation, the final destination is in a deep iconographic investigation; more precisely, this stage seeks to identify how iconic symbolic values are selected within images, legends, stories and oral literature.
The painting mentioned in this article has been done analytically with an iconology approach. The results of this research indicate that this painting is different from other paintings with such a theme visually and the relationship between the literary text and the work itself. The painting represents Bahram's upward progress towards the truth and in a way represents Bahram's spiritual behavior. Bahram's movement actually shows the stages of reaching perfection. In this picture, Bahram, by destroying his pride, undergoes internal cultivation, which is associated with the defeat of the dragon. In fact, the zebra is a symbol of the warning and the lion, with the help of which Bahram succeeds in killing the dragon, which is a symbol of the Amara's ego. And the defeat of the dragon was a kind of defeat of this ego. In it, which Bahram goes through the path of the valley of truth, which in a way represents the movement from the world of the kingdom to the world of theology, which is accompanied by difficulties.
Type of Study: Original Research |
Subject:
2
Received: 2023/06/10 | Accepted: 2023/09/13 | Published: 2023/12/20
Received: 2023/06/10 | Accepted: 2023/09/13 | Published: 2023/12/20
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