A Comparative Study of Two Narrations with Dispute theme, in Two Pieces of Writings by Sa adi and their Representations in Figures by Kamal-ud-Din Behzad and Reza Abbasi with a Look at Principles of Intertextuality

Miniature and literature, as two major treasures of Iranian art, have been strongly interlaced during history and the better they are understood the more they will bring about an elevation in the Iranian-Islamic identity and culture. Exercising scrutiny over the status quo of the affairs and available researches, it can be understood that the selection of a single topic from both of the afore-mentioned study areas has been less frequently dealt with. In this research, it is necessary to carefully examine the relationship between literature and painting with ethical features. clarification of the hidden relationships between these two study areas, i.e. miniature and literature, and perception of the human and social relations governing the psychological space of the artists from these two fields. Therefore the present study, is within the format of a comparative and a case study of the two topics, and attempts to investigate the two figures of "disputing before a judge" and "Sa’adi’s quarrel with a claimant" by two Iranian miniaturists, named Kamal-ud-Din Behzad and Reza Abbasi. These two paintings have a common motif of "dispute", both of which are reflections excerpted from Sa’adi Shirazi stories and bearing the abovementioned titles so as to test the hypothesis as to "considering the temporal precedence of the figure by Kamal-ud-Din Behzad, could Reza Abbasi have possibly modeled Kamal-ud-Din Behzad in both of the stages of selecting a subject matter and the representation style or not?" The most important objective of the current study is analyzing the effects these two figures could have exerted on one another as well as an elucidation of the extent to which these two figures have succeeded in representing the motifs of a narration pertaining to each of the works along with the artistic innovations and techniques derived from the spirits and skills of each. Futhermore, inter alia the particular objectives of the current research paper, the documentary nature of the study samples and the analysis of the major features of the two miniature works based on their styles of representing each of the figures can be pointed out. The aforementioned stages pave the way for providing an answer to this main question as to "amongst the two figures belonging to Kamal-ud-Din Behzad and Reza Abbasi, which one better represents the context of the original narration and which one of the aforesaid miniaturists has made a greater deal of innovation in his work?" The current hypothesis-oriented study has been conducted based on a descriptive-analytical method through adopting a comparative approach considering the principles of intertextuality. The study findings indicated that both of the artists have practiced almost equal amounts of innovation and techniques and that they have done their best to hold on to the original story, but considering these two works from the lens of the major specifications, the figure by Reza Abbasi is envisaged a more expressive representation of the story pertaining to his miniature work. It is worth mentioning that the study findings are also reflective of the idea that part of the study hypothesis can be proved and another part is rejected therefore Reza Abbasi’s modeling of Kamal-ud-Din Behzad’s miniature work is least probable.