Examination and Recognition of Religious Icons of the Qajar Court (Documentary Study)

Iconography, which is one of the most important components of religious art in Iran began to flourish in the Safavid era with the socialization of the Shi'ite school and developed in the Qajar era. During this era, the general belief in icons as a means of repelling calamity and bringing good luck prompted the Qajar kings to pay more attention to the art of iconography. This art developed as one of the arts favored by the Qajar court and thus several icons were prepared by order of the Qajar court and these icons found a special value in the rites and customs of the Qajar court.The findings of the research show that regarding the importance of icons among the common beliefs of Qajar society, the kings of this dynasty have held a more special outlook towards the art of iconography. Accordingly, the artists of the Qajar court prepared special icons. Given the political function and legitimization of the icons, Nasser al-Din Shah procured several icons for his court and exposed them to the public in various ways and used them in different modes in the rites and customs of his court. Emphasis on the atomistic perspective and the application of Divine themes and the combination of Eastern and Western art themes, etc., are referred to as among the artistic features of these religious icons.The present study is intended to study the historical and artistic features of the eight religious icons of the Qajar court through historical and analytical-descriptive methods and field observations using documentary and library sources and to specify what the symbolic value and political function of these icons have been in the Qajar court.