Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Instructor of Handicraft Department, Faculty of art, Soore University, Tehran, Iran
2
Assistant professor of Handicraft Department, Faculty of art, Soore University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Ferdowsi’s narratives from Shahnameh have always been the focus of illustrators and painters in different eras. During the time of Shah Ismail Safavid and by his order, they started making Shahnameh, which is known as the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp. This research aims to re-read an image from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp titled “Elegy of the Death of Sohrab from Rostam” using Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. The nature of this research is descriptive-analytical-historical and has a basic goal with a qualitative approach. The necessary information for the research has been collected from library sources and through the documentary method. This research aims to investigate how the images in question can be interpreted using Gadamer’s hermeneutic framework. By examining the images through this lens, it was observed that, because of the proximity of the approach to the contexts in which this work was created, there is a suitable ground for re-reading the existing images.
Additionally, concepts such as social, cultural, and historical context, dialogue, prejudice, the horizon of meaning, and the common language envisioned by Gadamer have played a significant role in the creation of this work. The Safavid era’s social context, marked by the unification of Shia Islam, the artistic patronage of Shah Ismail and Shah Tahmasp, territorial expansion, and social security that attracted European travelers, fostered the revival of Iranian culture and art. The painting styles of past schools, such as the Herat school and the beautiful and precise calligraphies that emerged from Iranian painting to the Tabriz school, significantly influenced the creation of works like the third image of the lamentation for the death of Sohrab.
The artist of this artwork, as one side of the conversation, utilizes the poetry of Ferdowsi in this narrative, along with Iranian elements and motifs derived from past schools of thought. Acknowledging that he does not possess the entirety of truth, he allows the other side—namely, the past schools of painting and the poetry of Ferdowsi—to reveal themselves. In this context, the existence of a common language between the two eras, which is Persian, significantly aids the process of understanding. The painter engages in a dialogue with the past schools of painting and the poetry of Ferdowsi, bringing his own contemporary biases into the conversation. Through this dialogue, a constructive interaction emerges between the two periods, emphasizing that neither holds superiority over the other. In “The Tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab” from Shah Tahmasp’s Shahnameh, the artist blends motifs from earlier schools with an abstract perspective, localizing faces and clothing. This stylistic choice reflects the painter’s era, mindset, and the political and social currents driving the revival of Persian culture and language. The resulting artwork represents a dialogue between the two semantic horizons of the past schools of Persian painting and the poetry of Ferdowsi, as well as the semantic horizon of the painter’s own time, with Persian script serving as the text. According to Gadamer’s hermeneutic theory, the painter engages in a conversation and dialogue with the art of the schools that preceded him and the poetry of Ferdowsi, influenced by his own preconceptions, which are the result of the semantic horizon of the era in which he lived. While drawing inspiration from Iranian motifs and the characteristics of Persian painting, as well as the narrative themes of Rostam and Sohrab, he attempts to correspond with the cultural, political, and social currents of his time. He strives to create a work that belongs to the time, culture, and social and political conditions of his era, thereby giving rise to a new school in painting that is rooted in the age of the painter. The interplay of the semantic horizons of Ferdowsi’s poetry and the painter’s perspective creates a symbolic language in the imagery. Gadamer considers language essential to understanding. In Ferdowsi’s poems and illustrations, the Persian language, vital to Gadamer’s concept, is emphasized and preserved. The poet and the painter, using a similar language, describe the narrative of Rostam and Sohrab. Both of them carry a heritage from their ancestors that has been transmitted to them through the Persian language.
These two artistic forms (the poems of Ferdowsi and the illustrations of Rostam and Sohrab) are closely and intricately connected both in terms of perspective and content, as well as in terms of aesthetics. The figures of speech in both Ferdowsi’s poetry and the illustrations correspond with each other. For example, in Ferdowsi’s poetry in the second illustration (Image No. 4), the visual equivalent of the comparison of Rostam to a drunken elephant, the comparison of Sohrab to a lion that has triumphed over the grave of a lion (Rostam), sitting on Rostam’s chest, and drawing the blood-red dagger can be seen. In fact, just as the poet employs ambiguity, simile, and metaphor to convey his thoughts more effectively, he also enriches his poetry with rhythm and melody, engaging the audience through rhyme. Similarly, in painting, with a language of color and line, what is derived from the shared literary language is depicted on the page. The poet’s meaning is more effectively conveyed through symbols and signs when addressing ambiguities, similes, and metaphors.
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