Journal of Razavi Culture

Abstract Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará is a painter and one of the masters of the painting art of the Qājār era in the field of recording urban and historical works. His works have a geometrical proportion and a very precise perspective influenced by Mahmoud Khan's knowledge of mathematics and geometry. The purpose of this research is to study the structural analysis of Mahmoud Khan's painting from the ʿAtīq courtyard of Imam Riḍā (as) as his oldest known oil painting, and also the structural investigation of the features of this painting as a historical document of the ʿAtīq courtyard during the Qājār era. The main questions in this research are as follows: 1. How are the visual and structural features of the ʿAtīq courtyard of Imam Riḍā (as) shrine worked in the work of Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará? 2. How is the composition and divisions of the work displayed in the south porch and the clock porch? This research was descriptive, analytical, and collected information in the form of documents (library). The method of analyzing the works is based on the examination of the visual principles and rules used in ʿAtīq courtyard painting. The findings of this research show that Mahmoud Khan Malek al-Shoʿará, one of the great artists and a pioneer in the field of modern painting in Iran during the Qājār era, has recorded the oldest courtyard of the shrine in the Qājār rule period with paintings, and in this work, he has pointed out the exact details that today, according to the changes over time, introduce us to the architecture of that time in the ʿAtīq courtyard. This old work is a documentary painting of Imam Riḍā's shrine during the Qājār era from the ʿAtīq courtyard, and in that painting, the correct perspective, subjectivity, and artistic creativity can be seen.

Abstract Tiling is one of the idealistic ways of painting in the architectural decoration of Iran, at least its historical background dates back to before Islam. In the early Islamic centuries, art of tiling in Iran, because of the increase in the construction of religious buildings, appears as decorations in religious collections. The process of growth and development of the holy shrine has continued throughout the history of Islam and throughout the life of Islamic governments; hence, the type of architecture and its accessories, including tiling, throughout history and periods of Ilkhānī, Timurid, Safavid, Qājār and contemporary period have been done by different styles and methods. During the Qājār period, many developments in art and architecture, especially in the decoration of buildings, occurred. In this period, the painting of the building’s wall found new effects. In this era, the tile designers have inspired from portraiture, photography, postage stamps, western fashions, ancient art traditions of painting, as well as literary, historical, religious, and lithographic.
The main purpose of this article is to get familiar with Qājār period tiles in the holy shrine and to adapt the miracle of the lion’s attack to Hamid Ibn Mehrān on the front of the eastern porch of the Atiq courtyard with similar lithographic prints. The question is what are the topics of the Qājār period tiles in the holy shrine of Raḍavī? Can we see the tile of Imam Riḍā's miraculous tale in the Ma'mūn's assembly (Lion’s attack on Hamid ibn Mehrān) from similar lithographic prints? If this tile is affected by lithographic prints, what are these effects? What works of the painter artists are more consistent with these items?
The compilation of the materials and pictures of the present research was done by field and library method, and its writing was done with a descriptive and analytical approach along with interpretation of the images and their adaptation.