semiotic analysis of the mystical painting "Sheikh Sanan meeting with the Christian daughter "

Nowadays, semiotics is used in the analysis of artistic texts, and considering the symbolic nature of Iranian painting, it seems that this approach provides the possibility of reading and deciphering the signs by providing systematic analyzes of the tex. In semiotic theory, signs are understood not individually but as dynamic and active elements of a sign system and in interaction and challenge with each other. This article is a semiotic analysis of the mystical painting Shaikh San’an meeting the Christian girl miniature based on Attar’s narration in Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr in the Safavid dynasty. The narration of Sheikh Sanan is one of the allegorical stories of Persian literature illustrated in different periods of Iranian painting. The purpose of this study is to investigate visual cues and how they interact in constructing the meaning and theme of the work with a semiotic approach. Nowadays, semiotics is used for the analysis of artistic texts. Considering the symbolic nature of Iranian painting, it seems that this approach provides the possibility of reading and deciphering the signs by providing systematic analytics of the text. In semiotic theory, signs are understood not individually but as dynamic and active elements of a sign system and in interaction and challenge with each other. Accordingly, the present study has answered the following questions: 1- What are the concepts of pictorial visual signs in interaction with each other? 2- How do the signs interact in forming the concept and theme of the image? The present research has a descriptive-analytical approach and a library research method. The results of this study show that in the mentioned painting, the painter has tried to represent the mystical concepts of perfection and consciousness (which are the themes of the story) through visual signs and interactions between them. These concepts have been expressed symbolically using human and non-human visual cues and their interaction. 
Based on the semiotic analysis, we found that the manner of interaction of signs has led to the construction of meaning in the underlying layers of the painting. Through examining these meanings, we found that in most cases, the painter has used semiotic methods such as metonymy and metaphor, double or binary and opposites, and linguistic disorder in expressing the narrative’s concepts and passing through the denotation of the sign to its connotation.