Handicrafts of Great Khorasan

Handicrafts of Great Khorasan

A Comparative Study of the Motifs of the Quranic Volumes in the Timurid and Safavid Periods Preserved in The Astan Quds Razavi

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 MA in Art, Painting Department, Ferdows Institute of Higher Education, Mashahad, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Painting Department, Art Faculty, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Cover designing for the Holy Quran has always been an art and industry with significant historical and aesthetic values serving the divine word. It can be noted that the best examples of this can be observed in Iran during the Timurid and Safavid eras. Some of these Qurans are preserved in the "Center for Manuscripts of the Central Library" of the Astan Quds Razavi, which have not yet been introduced and analyzed on a case-by-case basis. From this, one can understand the similarities and differences in the "designs and motifs" used in them and the temporal influences between them. In this research, an effort has been made to answer the question of what the commonalities and distinctions in the motifs of the Qurans from the mentioned periods preserved in the Astan Quds Manuscript Center are, and what the range of their influences is in the conducted comparison. Selected samples from each historical period consist of "three" Qurans, totaling six cases. The results showed that the book covering of the Safavid period was influenced by the Timurid period, and approximately more motifs used in the construction and decoration of the covers were common in both periods. However, despite the common motifs in the decoration of the bindings, it seems that during the Safavid period, artists, by using diverse and warm colors, greatly enriched the covers, creating vibrant and volumetric motifs and achieving a more realistic state compared to the covers of the Timurid era.
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  • Receive Date 09 December 2024
  • Revise Date 06 January 2025
  • Accept Date 09 February 2025