چکیده:
Combining Persian miniature and literature together has been influential in the recent decades.
Illustrated Shahnameh Demot (Book of Kings, Great Persian Epic), which is known as the most
valuable illustrated artwork in the first Tabrīz school, is considered to be the special style of
Persian Illustration or Miniature during Mughal Ilkhanid era, taking advantage of interaction
between literature and painting. This article attempts to examine artistic and visual qualities of the
illustration “Alexander the Great (Sikandar) in conversation with WakWak tree” in Ilkhanid era. A
descriptive-analytic approach is used to investigate the interaction between literature and
illustration. The research results indicated that the tree is a concept existing beyond human mind,
and that it is embodied through symbolism. In Shahnameh, WakWak tree or Talking tree is a
symbolic tree where Alexander is in conversation with WakWak tree and the tree foresees his
future. As the art is always influenced by the ideology underscoring the era, it could be alleged that
mythological thought has been influential in the artistic structure of illustration, and it has been
turned into an aesthetic language that has led to the reflection of the evolution of poetry in the
illustration. In this illustration, by the adept composition of the debates raised, Ilkhanid illustrator
subtly abducts the image from the heart of poetry, and intertwines his capabilities and potentials
with words of poetry, such that visual symbolism and color, in keeping with the themes of
Shahnameh, are some of the most important features embodied in the elements underlying the
illustration.
خلاصه ماشینی:
org International Journal of Applied Arts Studies IJAPAS 2(2) (2017) 69–78 Aesthetic and Symbolic Analysis of the Manuscript Illustration Alexander the Great (Sikandar) in Conversation with WakWak Tree (Talking Tree) in Shahnameh Demot Seyed Hasan Soltania*, Armita Saadatmandb aProfessor, Department of Art, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran bM.
Illustrated Shahnameh Demot (Book of Kings, Great Persian Epic), which is known as the most valuable illustrated artwork in the first Tabrīz school, is considered to be the special style of Persian Illustration or Miniature during Mughal Ilkhanid era, taking advantage of interaction between literature and painting.
In this illustration, by the adept composition of the debates raised, Ilkhanid illustrator subtly abducts the image from the heart of poetry, and intertwines his capabilities and potentials with words of poetry, such that visual symbolism and color, in keeping with the themes of Shahnameh, are some of the most important features embodied in the elements underlying the illustration.
Relying on a library study, the current descriptive-analytical research seeks to analyze the content and structure of an illustration taken form Shahnameh Demot, and also to present an analysis of the ambience underlying the work and its visual elements, based on some complementary issues such as Ilkhanid era (Tabriz school), Shahnameh Demot, WakWak tree, and Alexander the Great.
In Persian dictionaries, the term “WakWak” is referred to a mythical and illusionary tree that blossoms at dawn and fades at the evening, and it is narrated that its fruit is in the form of talking humans and other animals (Khalaf Tabrizi, 1684).
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