Designs of Animals, Birds and Humans in Iranian Painting

 

Mehrdad Ahmad Amiraghaie

 

ABSTRACT:

The designs of human figures, animals and birds in visual arts of Iran has its particular characteristics in every era which results a certain shared cultural vision of the people of this land. For example in the cultural perspective of Iranian painting, the design of human body is very important. However, the artist never tries to make a real similarity of human visages and his greater emphasis is on a kind of human quality of visages. It also provides a partial understanding of each others assets. Application of animal's and bird's motifs, or different reasons such as their application in everyday life or in particular rituals and..., always has a special position in the visual arts of Iran and usually are divided into two kinds of creatures: good (pure), evil (bad) This paper is an attempt to identify the general features and characteristics of motifs of human, birds and animals in Iranian paintings associated with visual samples.

 

INTRODUCTION:

By looking at the historical records and different eras of the visual arts in Iran, this point is well received that Iranian artists ever do not deal with appearance and reality of the phenomena and their nature. But they wanted to reach the hidden truth and principle in elements and surroundings by their inner and internal understanding. Then in his painting, the time and place aren’t depicted, neither physical quantity can appear nor laws of real world are applicable. His mountains, trees and birds are mostly typical forms ( Archetypes) rather than mimic forms of nature….They use conceptual approach, rather than visual approach, in their realism.

 

Human Designs:

In mystic and wisdom teachings of Iran, man has had a special place, and all international levels tied with her being and all of the components and forms of the universe with all of its features can be found in the human [1]. That’s why the presence of human has fundamental role in Iranian painting, and always is considered as one of the main elements of this approach in all stages of artistic development. Then subjects of paintings based on their actions were found their final form. It applies even in works in which there are no human figures. In other word, in Iranian painting, the main issue is with human or for human, and depending on the positive or negative traits ( good or evil ) designs of human bodies in an appearance and interior overlapping are constructed entirely in its final beauty by painter. This happens because at the heart of these

conflicts there is a dual nature side by side. It means in the existence of human alongside with an angel face there is an evil face too.

 

“In the world of painting where the beginning and ending are within, actual scenes are not paid. The world does not depend on human. People have no supremacy in comparison between nature, carpet designs, decorative objects or architecture. Man dealing with life events, in Iranian painting, unlike traditional forms of anthropomorphique  and  western humanism, is not considered as the concept and purpose of life, unlike Chinese landscaping tradition in which man is made in small sizes, he’s important although he’s small in comparison with large sizes of the universe and its creator.[4] However, human limbs and visages in each painting school have their specific characteristics, and the most common point of all before the influence of European art was lack of shades on the visages. Something that is visible even in Herat school with such master as Kamal-al-Din Behzad, who painted with a realistic view and paid attention to the facial expressions Iranian painting is full of human visages. Human beings that “ appear in small and nonsense of themselves in connection with the promotion that goes beyond themselves, and yet painters are not in the risk of rivaling God by creating creatures, and also with a human quality in visages that relatively causes the recognition and differentiation of each other and by the use of small instruments give them a mode of speech, and do not rise against the principle of the aesthetic decoration. These devices include round or oval mode for faces, different gaps between the eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth, growing or shaving off beard and etc. Of course it’s clear that if a real importance had been given to these human aspects, Iranian painting would have been destroyed in its own nature. More glory of human visage requires more emphasize on the causal relationship and creating similarity, and undoubtedly would eliminate imaginative song of stories and principle of decorating which is about the practice of Iranian painting. As the discussion fallows, in a closer look we investigate methods of drawing and characteristics of human motifs during the evolution of Iranian visual arts from ancient times to the Ghajar’s reign (13th century Hejri Ghamari(H.Gh),[2] Art during the Achaemenid reign generally was manifested in reliefs and had special features in human body and visage which was influenced by the art of Mesopotamia and getting some details from the art of Egypt and Greece such as drawing the human body from the side with eyes from the front. Yet generally in the reliefs of this era human bodies with no physical effects of facial expressions are kind of calm and serenity. (fig.1) In the art of Parthian era, face to face and full face with gaze to the firm were drawn and of course there was much attention to the garment decoration of their bodies to show their social status. Visual characteristics of the art of this period had a dramatic effect in the later stages. Evidence on this point is the image of the Goddess Mithra on horse. The overall mood and movements of the animals in this picture can be recognized as the background of the art of Iran’s later stages. (fig.2) The art of Sassanid era was influenced by West Asia and ancient Iranian motifs, and had had emphasize on clarity and order of designs. One of the main features of drawing human figures in art of this period is depiction of the king’s role that in any status was displayed larger than the others. The method that later was widely used by artists in Iranian painting. Here the art of a culture should be mentioned which was formed in Khorasan and Mavara al Nahr by the influence of various tribes that were linked by the Silk road. The culture from which “Sogdian and Manichaeism art” were born. Sogdian art that was usually manifested in the form of wall paintings, had epic, historical and even folk themes that has been described realistically, and as noted this art during the course of its history is not without the influence of other adjacent cultures. For example in drawing the human figure, Mongolian face features (round face, beautiful eyes, small mouth) can be seen in their works. The art of Manichaeism had some special characteristics that had a significant effect on the Iranian painting, itself in some cases was influenced by Hindu art and specially Buddhism, such as drawing visages as full face, narrow and beautiful eyes, straight hair and short limbs, large heads and a halo around the head. In early Islamic periods of Iran, especially in western countries, the continuation of the pre-Islamic artistic traditions remains. Like a wall painting shows a woman that bears a calf. In this picture the woman with a full face dresses according to the tradition of Iranian women’s dresses (fig.3)During the same period in the eastern parts of Iran, around Nishabur, drawing human figures, such as Sogdian paintings, are close to the Mongolian look (fig.4). During the Ilkhanate period, Azerbaijan became the seat of government and by creating a complex(the house of Rashidi) in Tabriz, illustration of several books such as Jame- al-Tavarikh and an epic later called Damut epic” in art work shops began. Since many artists from countries like China, Iran and Byzantiun were used in these work shops, cross-cultural influences of each can be seen well in visualization of the books, most notably is the impact of Chinese painting. One of the special features of this period in the human visage and figure drawing is that artists began to show interest in representing emotional and mental states of visages.By the beginning of Jlayryan government again Baghdad became the centre of art. Among well known artists of this period is Juneyd, called Joneyd Baghdadid. In his works the human body is depicted generally tall, thin and round faced with soft movements and...(fig.5)Large human limbs with almost similar visages and paintings that are known even in their positions and movements, are among the preliminary features of Shiraz painting school, and are implemented with free and soft lines. But as the time passed since the formation of this school were gradually getting other indexes, as if in Mozaffarian reign drawing skinny human limbs with large heads and faces with beard, whish are often painted, are considered as other important characteristics of this school. (fig.6) By the formation of Herat school in the 9th century H.Gh(1480 AD) with artists such as Ruhollah Mirak Khorasani, Haji Muhammad Heravi(Muhammad Siyah Ghalam), Shah Mozaffar and Kamal al-Din Behzad there was specific characteristics of drawing human figures and visages like tall and solemn organs and visages with beard. But the main characteristics of this school in depicting the subject can be searched in paintings of Kamal- al-Din Behzad. He added the movements in drawing human organs with a realistic view and suggested that diversity in representing the emotional and mental states of visages and even coloring theme. (fig.7) At the time of the painting school of Shiraz and Herat(9th century H.Gh,(1480 AD) a way of painting with specific characteristics especially in drawing the human figures and visages in the realm of Torkamanan with the central government of Tabriz came to existence. Among the hallmarks f this style of art are drawing short and slightly chubby human limbs with a round face, arc-like and connected eyebrows and small mouth and nose. Tabriz school( Safavid)In this school of painting a style is formed which appears very original and complete and in fact has a treasury of traditions of Tabriz painting in Torkamanan era and Herat painting with master Kamal-al-Din Behzad with itself. Although at the beginning the most important features of Torkamanan paintings like human limbs relaxed in a dream landscape are identifiable in the works, but on the way, the artists of this school, despite having special and unique abilities in drawing specific contents, all fallowed the realistic style of Behzad including the frequency of human limbs in images with different modes of action and different from each other. (fig.8)In the year 955 H.Gh (1535 AD) by transferring capital from Tabriz to Qazvin painting took another path. Shah Tahmasb, who was the supporter of painters, took his support of artists. This causes many painters move to other cities including Mashhad in Khorasan. In the city by Ebrahim Mirza, governor of Khorsan, art workshop was held for visualizing manuscripts. In the paintings of this period the human limbs and visages are usually described tall with round faces[3]. Although painting school of Qazvin has many of the properties and characteristics of Khorasani style of painting in itself, but it has reduced the frequency of human organs(fig.9).With the transfer of the capital from Qazvin to Isfehan during the reign of king Abbas Safavid, painting is in its last flourishing period, because it was from this time that for different reasons such as separation of painting from literature and gradual influence of the art of Europe in painting, opportunity was provided for a special kind of painting and that was painting portrait with its special features. Reza Abbasi, the most significant artist of the era, tends to have more simplicity and at the same time linear values and realism in his works. In his works the human limbs often appear taller and actions and mental states are obvious on their faces. (fig.10),Style and image processing of Reza Abbasi was transferred to his disciples. In the fallowing of this school during the reign of Shah Abbas (II) the influence of European painting style and technique is highly evident such as tree-dimensional human body through the power of shadow processing. This style of painting continued during Afsharid and Zand’s reign and then moved to the Ghajar period. (fig.11)In the 13th century H.Gh (1880 AD) and the beginning of the Ghajar state, single body with oil paint on canvas was painted. Although you can view traces of Iranian painting traditions in the works of this period, but it was far from their original and artists tried to represent visages in European style.In paintings of this era, also called “painter school[2], the human body has certain characteristics. So that: “ the display of physical characteristics is a reflection of client’s selfishness and his interest in luxury goods that is blended with artist’s aesthetic taste and his pen’s elegance and has made a magnificent painting. Men often appear with a long mustache and beard, narrow waist, staring eyes and women with oval face, joined eyebrows, eyes with Sormeh, fingers with Henna. People of any age and position are tall and with vibrant face All wear brocade cloths with pearl, and adorn themselves with different kinds of jewelry and ornament [5] This period was a transitional stage which was associated with complete mastery of European painting style and technique. The most significant artist of the era was Muhammad Ghaffari, known as Kamal- al-Molk, who recorded peripheral facts and human figures as a photographer on canvas. He took a complete distance in his return to Iran from traditions of Iranian painting after his journey to Europe and familiarity with Renaissance and Baroque art in Europe and this was the beginning of a new era in Iran’s painting, especially in painting portraits and nature.(fig.12)

 

Animal and Bird Designs:

The use of animals and birds has long been in Iranian arts. Of course the attachment to the animals and birds has many reasons including their various applications in everyday life such as agriculture and hunting or to exploit the ritual and concrete embodiment as a specific symbol The animal designs in art with any form of both real and unreal, domestic or wild and even with a combination of legendary icons such as dragon, Simorgh, Div and…also indicates that these animals have been influential in human life. These designs were reflected on pottery sometimes like a shadow and sometimes like a bas-relief. In many cases the whole body in actual or symbolic form was turned to the form f pottery, metal and such as designs of Siyalk Kashan pottery, Achaemenid and Sassanid reliefs and Raytheons (metal cups) of Median age. Over the centuries the interest in animal and mythical creatures was transferred to Iranian arts (fig.13)

 

The animal designs of the Islamic period’s painting can be divided into two categories:

·      Good creatures such as horse, deer, Simorgh, nightingale

·      Evil creatures such as dragon, snake, Div

 

The main point in drawing these designs of Iranian painting is the beautiful visage of evil animals, something that is quite on the contrary of viewer’s habits and imagination. Of course the answer of this question refers to the discussions of manifestation in wisdom in Islamic mysticism, and Islamic arts such as painting take their form in association with it. Since all of the world and all its creatures are the manifestation and expression of the divine beauty, then what occurs in the process of manifesting this expression is all beauty based on love, and it is based on this insight that all creatures are drawn beautifully in painting. (fig.13) Another thing is that painting in term of decorative quality provides a place for the artist to color every thing (other than human visages) with any color that makes him pleased. By accepting this logic, we can see different designs of animals and birds in different colors that may be less frequent in nature. However this can emphasize the decorative features of this type of art, or on the other hand refers to the symbolic perception of a particular kind of animal. Among these designs is the design of legendry Simorgh bird in Iranian mythology. The bird has magical powers and is aware of hidden secrets, and in epic literature of Iran is considered as the symbol of wisdom and knowledge and in non-epic literature is considered as invisible existence and an irony of the perfect human being, which is hidden from the eyes. The shape of the bird in visual arts of Iran is displayed in two shapes:

·      A bird with chicken’s head, lion body and a short tail that reminds “Homa”, Aryan mythical bird who had lived in the West. [2]

·      A bird with a long and colorful tail like peacock, which is often portrayed in paintings of Iran’s Islamic era. (fig.15)

 

But in certain paintings associated with the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad, a creature can be seen whish is called “Boragh” and is his steed in his celestial journey. This is an exceptional design in painting. This creature with four legs is like a horse with a long and narrow tail and two branches hooves with a human face as a young and beautiful girl. (fig.16) Other designs of the animals in Iranian painting are designs of birds such as nightingale that has a specific position in the history of Islamic-Iranian painting, as far as in the study of Iranian visual arts a specific style is named Flower and Bird. Although its roots are found in the works before 11th century H.Gh (17 AD) with samples of trees and birds as part of a work or were painted as background. (fig.17) Indeed, the beginning of 11th century (1680 AD) in Isfehan’s painting school was with single bird paintings of Reza Abbasi and flower and bird painting seed was created. And then continued by his disciples including Shafi Abbasi, this art style was formed slowly and over time the theme of Flower and Bird painting as an independent method grew. The design of wild birds was detected at the beginning and then it was changed to the conceptual shapes. Like Zand’s era in which, by the influence of mystical poetry and themes about love of flower and nightingale to each other, Flower and Nightingale works were created. The manner reached to its peak and was quite comprehensive in its developmental trend in the reign of Ghajar, 12th and 13th century H.Gh (18 and 19.centuries.AD). (fig.17)

 

 

 

(Fig-1)-Part of sout stairs. bas relief of a soldier.persepolis.achaemenidera

 

 

 

 

(Fig-2)-Wall tableau. mitra in hunting-place. Duraeuropus. Parthian era

 

 

 

 

 

(Fig-3)Wall tableau.a women with calf onher shoulder.samerah.(880 A.C)

 

 

 

(Fig-4) Motif on Tileworking part.musician.Yay.(1180 A.C)

 

 

 

 

(Fig-5) Image of poetry book of khajoye kermani.Homax birdapposed to homayoon palace.the second of aghdad.by:jonaid.(1379A.C

 

 

 

(Fig-6)-Image of shahnameh. fight between zanganeh and EKhvast shiraz  school. (1312 .A.C)

 

 

(Fig-7) Picture of khamse Nezami(poetry book by nezami Ganjavi).The Caliph Mamun in bath. By:Kamal-al-din Behzad.haret school.(1580 A.C)

 

 

 

 

(Fig-8) Picture of shahname(poetry book by Ferdosi).Familiarity of Ferdosi with poets of Sultan Mahmoud GHaznavis court.can be ordination to Mirak.Tabriz school(Safavid school).(1519A.C)

 

 

 

(Fig-9)-Image of shahnameh king ismaeil passing fire of siavash against keikavoos and sudabeh. by:Ali Asgahr.Qazvin school.(1564.A.C)

 

 

 

(fig-10)-The alone shepherd. by Reza Abbasi. Isfahan school.(1604.A.C)

 

 

(Fig-11) King Abbas talking with one of his friends by: Muhammad Gasem.Isfahan school.(1616 A.C)

 

 

(Fig-12)-Oil color curtain. mirror hall by:kamal-al-molk Gajar school.Tehran.(unknowndate)

 

(Fig-13)-Raython (metal cups)Achaemenian period.(Unknown date)

 

 

(Fig-14)-Animal motifs.(Unknown date)

 

 

 

(Fig-15) Bird motif(Phoenix simorgh).(Unknown date)

 

 

 

 

(Fig-16)-Khamseh Nezami. Prophet Mohammad flight by: sultan Mohammad.Tabrizschool(safavid).(1529.A.C)

 

 

 

(Fig-17) Influence of chinas art.(Unknown date)

 

 

CONCLUSION:

A. Among different designs that are used in Iranian-Islamic painting are human and animal designs. Basically man has essential role in painting even if the picture of him doesn’t exist in the work however the major issue is for human. But we must also consider the fact that human beings are not considered as principles and objectives of paintings in comparison with nature, as it is common in Western art or in contrast in the tradition of Chinese landscape painting in which man is made in small sazes. Man’s design in every school of painting is depicted with its peculiarities but by the beginning of Tabriz school in Ilkhanate reign, the tendency of the artists to show emotional and mental states of visages is revealed and this is considered thoroughly by Kamal- al-Din Behzad of Herat school. But the most important point to mention is the absence of shades in coloring human figures which is observed in all the schools of painting before the influence of Western art forms in Iranian painting. In drawing human figures, like-processing is not considered as gauge and what is described as a human visage is in fact exemplified takes of human being.

 

B. There are always animal designs in visual arts of Iran. But in the Islamic era depicting these designs are divided into two categories: good (pure), bad (evil)

 

C. Flower and Bird painting style which was created in Isfehan’s painting school, found its principal form during Zand’s period, and during the Ghajar’s period (12th and 13th centuries H.Gh, 18 and 19 AD) was formed and used in a completely independent and comprehensive manner.

 

REFERENCES:

1.     Isaac Pour, (2003). Iranian Painting, Iranian Painting, Art Journal, no.57, Tehran, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Press.

2.     Pakbaz, Rueen, (1999). Art encyclopedia, Tehran, Contemporary Art and Culture Publications.

3.     Kamali, Rasul, (2009). Four visual features of traditional perspective, Tehran’s Art Book of the Month Magazine, publications of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

4.     Kurkiyan, Imam, Siker, J.P, (1999).Gardens of Imagination, translation: Parviz Marzban, Tehran, Farzane Rouz publications

5.     Persian painting of the 14th century with an introduction and noted by Douglas Barrett, London a Pubrund Fuber.(1979).