Cultural relations between Persia and China grew even closer after the Mongol conquest of both countries in the 13th century, when the Īl-Khānids came to power. Mongol rulers were also affected by Chinese art and cultural heritage; it then transferred to Iran by political, commercial, and then cultural relations. So they prepared the conditions for mutual artistic inspirations, especially in painting. Since the illustrated Persian paintings clearly demonstrate foreign influences, including the culture of different nations, significantly China's cultural impact on Iran, the need for this investigation becomes more apparent in the period.

One of the most important factors that develop Shiite themes in writing among the people was the lithography of manuscripts. The lithographic illustrated books, which included a large part, were religious books depicting the event of Ashura. Their content, often combined with poetry and imagery, was Maqtal, elegy, mourning, or supplication texts. One of these books is Majalis al-Muttaqin, the illustrated type of which is kept in the Iranian libraries, including the National, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Ayatollah Boroujerdi Library, and so forth as well as in foreign libraries such as Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin. Majalis al-Muttaqin was one of the common books in the Qajar era. Compared to other popular books, it is now avail

The Fatimid, who had often considered themselves to be completely descendants of the Prophet, became prominent, and they made a claim to the prophet’s succession. Within this, by leading this political and religious sense of mission, they tried to predominate over the whole Islamic world, despite the political tensions between Berber tribes in North Africa, the caliphs of Bagdad, Byzantium, and the later crusaders too.

Symbolism as one of the tools of pictorial expression and transmission of concepts has brought many works of Iranian painting closer in form and meaning. On the other hand, the use of symbol is also considered as one of the literary arrays. In the process of composing, what attracts the poet's sensation, emotion and imagination more is the creation and the space and scope of nature. Iranian artist creates in a symbolic atmosphere; Taking advantage of the valuable context of Persian poetry and literature, the Iranian painter has not sought to represent tangible nature, but to represent symbolic effects. Manouchehri Damghani and Molana Mohammad Jalaluddin Balkhi (Shams) are among the most prominent poets describing nature in Persian literatur

Among the stories of the holy Quran, the story of Yusof and Zulaikha has always been a topic of interest for writers and poets. The story that is one of the most significant stories in Islamic culture focuses on many social behaviors and has always been one of the most significant social events. Different scenes of the story is also portrayed in different schools of painting. The story of Yusef and Zulaikha because of its many moral and ethical features has been depicted greatly compared to the other stories of this prophet. The painting of “the flee of Yusuf from Zulaikha” by Behzad is one of the most significant artworks in the history of Persian art. In this paper, the theological aspects of this event from the viewpoint of the Holy

Illustration of historical and religious scenes is of high significance in Islamic versions of Iran’s illustration; different features have been manifested in these pictures during different periods of art. In Moghul era, because of the kings’ tendency toward Christianity and Christian factors, influences of byzantine painting was observed in the illustrations; but what is clearly evident with the Il-khans era is the strong influence of Chinese art, particularly the Yuan and Sung period, on Mughal painting. One could claim that Il-khans is the period of conflicting elements of Chinese, Iranian, Byzantine, and Arabic art. On the other hand, illustration of Islamic historical scenes became common in the books during Il-khans period, the p

Dragon, a significant mythological motif in Persian poetry and literature, has yielded to exquisite and unrivaled scenes in Persian miniature and art. This article inspects the mythical and literal origins of fighting a dragon and the wicked connotation of dragon in the Iranian dualistic cosmology. It tries to shed light on the liaison between the epic and mystic nuance of dragon as a devilish vigor, and illustrates its visual and aesthetic characteristics and status in miniatures. Through an analytical comparative approach, it is shown that the illuminators have acheived these vivid feisty scenes by designing a conscientious structure, diligent selection of color and texture, and applying a diverse range of figurative proportions.

The image of “the other” can be traced back in the history of every culture and the oppositional binary of the self/the other (ego-alter) have always been regarded as part of cultural studies. Problems such as the relationship between cultures (one specific culture and “the other” one/s) or reason of governments’ denial of the other/s are among important questions of this field. In the present article, the cultural semiotics method has been chosen to investigate the way “the Other” is represented in two paintings belonging to two illustrated versions of Shahnameh, both from Safavid period. Based on the comparison of equall binary of the self and the other with that of human and demon in those picture, this article would try to

History of every nation includes the lives of human beings and their relations, from artistic and religious to human ones. Iranian history includes two powerful dynasties of Timurid and Safavid which have left many trails in the biggest religious place in Iran, Imam Reza’s Holy Shrine. Porches made in Timurid and Safavid eras are among the most important architectural works in the country located in Imam Reza’s Shrine. They contain different artistic and religious inscriptions and this difference is a result of variety that existed in their separate eras. This paper seeks to review the differences and similarities of the porches made during Timurid and Safavid eras. The methodology is that the contents of Quranic inscriptions are analyz