seyyed aboutorab ahmadpanah

In the mystical view of Islamic arts, letters hold a unique place and have various semantic aspects. "Vav" originates from the system of mystical and Sufic symbols and has consequently been represented as a motif in artworks from different cultures, at various levels of semantic significance. Among the works of Turkish-Islamic culture, the Vav letter has been extensively portrayed since the 12th century AH. This is largely due to the dominance of Sufic and mystic discourse at the time in Anatolian cultural geography. Through applying Pierce's semiotic method to this historical-analytical investigation and using a purposeful sampling procedure, semantic meanings of the letter Vav motif have been categorized. In addition, several samples of art from different fields have been used to demonstrate its prevalence and multiplicity. Thus, as well as studying the semiotic aspects of the iconic, indexical, and symbolic levels of the letter Vav, the roots and reasons for its popularity in Turkish-Islamic culture are also examined. Based on the results of this study, this calligraphic motif of the letter Vav in Turkish-Islamic cultural contexts has polysemic meanings and contains various meanings related to the mystical and Sufi ideas of Islamic calligraphy.

The motif of cedar tree, rooted in Persian culture, customs and rituals, is commonly seen in Persian rugs. Representation of this motif is especially noticeable in Qajar and Safavid Rugs. With respect to the history of art in Iran, Qajar and Safavid eras are two key periods. Application of the motif of cedar tree in the Persian rugs since very long time ago shows the special place of this motif for the Iranians. On this basis, the objective of the present research was to identify the conceptual function of this motif in the Persian rugs during Qajar and Safavid eras in order to have a better understanding of the meanings of such mythical motifs. In this respect, different species of cedars were identified and how they have been accompanied with other (guard) animals, was examined. So far, different studies have been conducted on the role of cedar tree and the its cultural, symbolic and mythical value in Iran. For example, in her MA dissertation entitled the trend of evolution and analysis of the role of cedar in Sfavid textiles, Fatemeh Bazi (2015) addressed the role of cedar and paisley design (boteh-jegheh in Persian) in textiles of Safavid era. Similarly, in a study entitled the role of cedar tree and its symbolic meanings in certain images of Tahmasbi’s Shahnamih, Saba Al-e-Ibrahim (2015) dealt with symbolic and esoteric concepts of trees in the images of Tahmasbi’s Shahnamih pointing out the relation of the images with literature and prominent characters.

Among the most important features of a artwork that can explain the conceptions having been used into it are composition and visual elements of that work. This research tries to answer the questions that which common visual elements (with what conceptual similarities and differences) are used in "Jamshid's court" and "Fereydoun's court" paintings in Tahmasp Shahnameh and in which painting, the painter has managed to illustrate a more magnificent court? In this research the aim is studying composition and visual elements including line, movement and rhythm in mentioned paintings and finding the artistic relation between these two paintings. It seems as the subject of both paintings is about the "court, the painter has applied much attempt in order to show the greatness of the kingdom. As the mentioned paintings in this research are belong to one school and historical age with common painters and two of them have been illustrated in Tahmasp Shahnameh with court concept, have been selected for comparing and studying in this research. The examination of the paintings shows Generally that the painter in Fereydoun's court painting has been more successful than Jamshid's in terms of composition, visualization of lines and related concepts with them, rhythm and expression of court greatness. on the contrary, Jamshid court painting has greater mobility in terms of human figures. This research is a descriptive -comparative one and the method of data collection is on the basis of library studies.

Carpet is one of the oldest and most ancient traditional arts that in addition to satisfying practical needs، reflects beliefs، myths and other conceptions. These concepts are manifested in the context of rugs، with colorful and beautiful motifs informed by inspiration. In this paper، in addition to identification of animal motifs in the rural rugs of Hamadan، these motifs have been classified as quadrupeds، birds، and aquatic animals. Moreover، ritual - mythical roots of such motifs have been studied. Among animal motifs، some birds (falcon and peacock)، some aquatic animals (fish and turtle and crab) and livestock (goat)، all have the concept of blessing and fertility.