Reflection of Plotinu's views on the Aesthetics of Iranian-Islamic Art (with Emphasis on Illustration and Architecture)

Simultaneous with the translation movement in the Muslim world during the Abbasid era, many philosophical and even theological literatures were translated into Arabic and used by the commentators and scholars. Plotinus, a third century A.D. philosopher with the Neo- Platonic philosophy, profoundly influenced the ideas of many Muslim philosophers by bringing together the ideas of Plato and Aristotle; so much that the influence of many of his ideas may be traced in the philosophical ideas of Muslim mystics, aesthetics and art in the Islamic culture and in the body of religious understanding of the Muslims. The purpose of this paper is to study Plotinus’ views on art and their reflection on the aesthetics of the Islamic art, with emphasis on illustration and architecture.
This article will answer the following questions:-what are the Plotinus’ ideas about art and aesthetics?
- What are the aesthetic features of Islamic art?
- Which of the ideas of Plotinus can be found in aesthetics of Islamic art?
The findings show that the opinions expressed by Plotinus on art, influenced the principles and tradition of illustration and the Islamic-Persian architecture, and Plotinus’ ideas were introduced into the Islamic-Persian art, after reexamination and revision by Muslim scholars. These principles are extensive and scattered light, flat and pure metal based colors, spiral and circular movements influenced by Plotinus’ idea of the Unity of Being. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and data were collected from library research. Statistical population includes examples of Islamic-Persian architecture and illustration using selective procedure.