A Comparative Study of the Role of Christ (pbuh) and Mahdi (pbuh) in Painting: A Case Study of the Picture of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper of Da Vinci and the Picture of Mahdi in the Falnameh of Tahmasebi

Throughout history, religious motifs have represented the religious and social atmosphere that governs society, and throughout time, motifs whose subject matter is based on sacred texts have been used by painters. One of the basic questions is what are the themes of using these motifs in Christian and Islamic art and what are their similarities and differences? Due to the thematic similarities between religions, one of the common themes in the Christian and Islamic traditions is the absence of Mahdi and the ascension of Jesus Christ, in other words, the disappearance of these two saints and their reappearance. Therefore, the depiction of those two saints in the visual arts, as well as the role of themes related to Mahdi and Jesus Christ, especially in the issue of concealment and absence, have been specifically analyzed in this article. This research shows that the Last Supper is one of the most important roles of Christian art that has been addressed by various artists throughout the history of Christian art and in different styles, but despite the attention of Muslims and Shiites to the issue of the absence and emergence of the Imam Mahdi, The role of Mahdi has been less noticed by Muslim painters. The popularity of Christians in the visual arts and the less attention of Muslims to this part of the arts and The religious restrictions, has caused to reduce the role of religious themes  in the paintings and drawings of Muslim painters, unlike the issue of the Ascension of Christ, is not considered by Christian artists. The method of this research is library and based on semiotics and an attempt has been made to identify how and why Christian and Muslim artists view the subject based on this method.