A study of visual techniques and iconographical analysis of hunting images on the Sasanian silver dish related to Ardashir II

The art of metalworking was very common in Iran during the Sasanian Empire (224-651/2 AD), and making silver vessels with various images and scenes on them, was more common than previous periods. For this reason, silver works became one of the main artistic characteristic of the art in the Sasanian period. Royal hunting as one of the most common themes in the art of Sasanian period, has decorated a large number of silverware of this period. On the surface of these vessels, Sasanian rulers are seen hunting and killing different animals in the hunting ground. In this article, human and animal icons on one of these plates have been studied, which belongs to Ardashir II, one of the kings in the fourth century AD in the Sasanian dynasty which is kept in the National Museum of Ancient Iran in Tehran. After describing the images on this plate in the first step, the meanings and hidden concepts in the scene have been analyzed using the iconography method. Finally, the application of visual techniques by the artist and their relationship to the basic concept of the scene has been studied. The research method in this article is descriptive and analytical, using library resources.