The Ahl-i Beyt bodies : the mural paintings of Lahijan in the tradition of Persian Shiite figurations

Pedram Khosronejad

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

In modern Iran and throughout their entire history, the majority of Persian Shiite visual arts in which one can observe the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, his Ahl-i Beyt (Imam ‘Ali, Fatimah Zahra, Imam Hassan and Imam Hoseyn) and other saints are deeply connected to the folk narration (rivayat-i ‘amiyanih) and popular literature (adabiyat-i ‘amiyanih) of the history of the Iranian version of Twelver Shiism (Ithna‘ashari). One of the main functions of these illustrations, which appeared for the first time in royal books (Gruber 2008) during the Timurid Dynasty (1370–1506) and were seen up to the Qajar period (1785–1925), in the popular Shiite lithograph books of the period (1785–1925), was to depict visually related religious events and stories. These series of illustrations (tasvirsazi) are mostly decorative (taz’ini) and function as a bridge between the text and the reader and, as far as we know, were never used as devotional devices.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFigurations and Sensations of the Unseen in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Contested Desires
EditorsBirgit Meyer, Terje Stordalen
Place of PublicationU.K.
PublisherBloomsbury Academic
Pages172-184
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9781350078635
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Islamic art and symbolism
  • Arts, Iranian
  • saints
  • Shiites

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