Rug as Icon Iconographical Analysis of Case Study: Pictorial Rug of "Madonna and Jesus Christ"

A new trend of weaving pictures in Qajar era is considered to be a revolution in the art of carpet-weaving whether from viewpoint of form or concept. These pictorial rugs were intended to be spread on the floor no more, but they were woven for visual satisfaction, exactly as pictures. These pictures are like an encyclopedia of the cultural life of that era, which covers beliefs, culture and life of the people and can be employed for discovering unknown aspects of their culture and outlook. This paper has amid to understand and find the meaning of one of these rugs, namely "Mary and Jesus Christ" by analyzing it using Erwin Panofsky's iconographic method for finding different meaning layers. The paper concludes that the above-mentioned rug has the function of an icon and for fulfilling its "monumental" and "didactic" objectives makes use of Islam doctrine, Qoran's verses and Iranian mystical art and literature. At the end, in search of deep and concealed meanings of this icon hidden beneath its different meaning layers and for finding its "artistic desire" and cultural reasons for its creation, this article shows the votive objective of this rug as a means of obtaining offspring and conforms the public's belief in miraculous power of the icon.