In the recent World Cup, Iran lost to the United States in the group stage, and all six World Cup games stopped in the group stage, and the players knelt down to cry for the loss.
When it comes to Iran, its art is also very distinctive.
Iran, historically known as Persia.
The Persian Empire existed for 2,500 years, and 1,400 years were influenced by Islamic culture.
Classical Persian aesthetics and Islamic aesthetics influenced and achieved each other, forming the unique Persian aesthetics of the Islamic period.
Unconventional "flowers of wealth in the world"?
When you see Persian art, you will surely think of one word first: wealth.
From the palace buildings to the ornamentation patterns, they all exude a very rich atmosphere.
And it is not the feeling of "big soil", but with its own elegant temperament, standing out from the crowd, and is a well-deserved "flower of wealth in the world".
It is said to be rich because of the complex Persian art and craftsmanship, magnificent shape, rich colors, complex shapes, commonly used gold and silver and precious materials for decoration, extremely high cost, full of luxury.
It is said to be elegant because Persian art has a deep heritage, each pattern has a meaning, and its subject matter is personal, the shape is regular, the composition is exquisite, the color is harmonious, the ingenuity is unique, and it is very tasteful.
Mok Mosque
Persian art is always recognizable at a glance, among which Islamic patterns are largely credited.
Islamic patterns, known as the "crown of the world's patterns", are a very characteristic part of Persian art.
Mok Mosque
There are three main types of Islamic patterns: geometric patterns, plant patterns, and text patterns.
Geometric patterns are the most original of Islamic aesthetics.
It is based on circles and squares, and has derived countless forms, which can form a variety of polygons.
If the outer contour lines surrounding these figures are individually extracted and emphasized, they can also be recombined into various forms of unique knotted patterns.
Polygons can further evolve into a variety of star patterns.
These circles have a combination of squares, squares, and repeated cycles, forming a kaleidoscopic, varied, exquisite and mysterious pattern.
Geometric patterns and patterns are often used in the domes of mosques and the decoration of major buildings in Persia.
Green Mirror Mosque
Islamic vegetal patterns are derived from curved geometric patterns, rather than drawing from real plants in nature.
A typical representative is the palm leaf curly grass pattern.
It originated from the fan palm leaf of ancient Greece, but under the pen of Arab artists, the curly grass pattern was continuously abstracted, and eventually evolved into a flowing abstract curly grass.
The words and phrases of the Qur'an also played an important role in Persian art.
The beautifully knotted handwriting gradually became patterned and became the pattern in the Islamic pattern.
From plates and bowls for everyday use, to lavish fabrics that carry out the names of rulers, to buildings decorated with devotional scriptures or foundation merits, words are everywhere.
Although Islamic patterns are the same as Indian patterns, Islamic patterns are only plants, and there are no animals or people.
And Islamic patterns are more abstract, more fluid, and more varied.
Indian pattern
Islamic pattern
Artistic treasures inherited from China?
In addition to the unique pattern, Persian art also has a feature, which is the "hodgepodge".
The elements of Persian art are rich and diverse, and the integration is strong.
A typical representative is Persian miniature painting.
In the early 13th century, it was influenced by Greek bottle painting and Syrian art, and the decoration of animal and plant shapes and human costumes was mainly geometric, and the overall style was simple and simple.
From the mid-13th century to the 15th century, Persian miniature painting absorbed traditional Chinese Gongbi painting techniques.
In particular, the miniature paintings of the 15th century Timurid era had a unified style, and the landscapes, clouds and decorative embellishments of this style of painting had a distinctly Chinese painting style.
Persian miniature painting reached its peak in the 16th century, when the painter laid out the entire composition of the picture and depicted it in gorgeous colors.
From the 17th century onwards, Persian miniature painting absorbed the Western Renaissance painting style, focusing on the depiction of details.
The painters emphasized the beauty of the picture, and gradually formed a strong localized miniature painting style.
This deformation of foreign subjects is not limited to the visual arts.
Ferdowsi also turned Alexander the Greek conqueror into his tragic hero, Iskander.
Persian visual artists used the theme to transform the relatively minor figures of this Persian epic into the most popular subject matter in art.
Persian art is also keen to use primary colors.
Whether it is the "pink mosque" in Shiraz or the imam square in Isfahan, it is full of red, blue, yellow and other colors.
Countless tiles, stained windows, and lenses reflect mesmerizing colors in the sunlight, as if you are in a kaleidoscope.
The facades of street buildings are also filled with fairytale-like saturated and bright colors, creating a fantasy space that seems to be real.
Among the many colors, "Persian blue" is the most representative one.
From imperial palaces to places of faith, from museum collections to monuments, the noble and cold "Persian blue" is everywhere.
It is extracted from lapis lazuli, and due to its rarity, "Persian blue" is also given a noble, rare, sacred and beautiful meaning.
China's blue and white porcelain, the pigment used is "Persian blue" imported from Persia.
In fact, blue and white porcelain, which fuses Persian blue and Chinese porcelain and absorbs exotic shapes, was originally created by the Yuan Dynasty under the influence of Islamic culture in order to adapt to foreign trade.
So, how did the unique Persian aesthetic come about? What are its characteristics?
The most living aesthetic?
Persian art was heavily influenced by Islamic doctrine and aesthetics.
Islamic culture encourages people to appreciate the diversity of nature and stimulates people to think about the beauty of color through the truth, goodness and beauty that precipitate in the human senses.
Therefore, Persian art and architecture are very colorful, even to the extent of dazzling.
Characu Holy Temple, also known as the "Glass Temple"
Islamic aesthetics also advocates densification, does not like blanks, and has rigorous composition, with abstract, regular, and balanced aesthetic characteristics.
Therefore, the themes of the decorative patterns are mainly plants, geometry and Arabic script, and the layout is full and symmetrical.
Each pattern has its own specific symbolic meaning.
For example, equilateral squares represent four equally important natural elements: earth, air, fire, and water. These four elements make up the material world, and one of them is indispensable, otherwise the material world will collapse.
The circle represents the material world, and the square is cut inside, reflecting the basic principles of stable structure and beautiful shape of the object.
The constantly flowing plant figure symbolizes the motherhood that nature gives life.
Xiaoyin feels that Persian art is probably one of the most enthusiastic art in the world to present vitality.
Influenced by the early Persian state religion "Zoroastrianism", the Persians loved to paint pictures of living beings, often singing about light, praising the beauty, richness and reproduction of life.
Thus, while Islam opposed idolatry (both humans and animals), life-loving Persians were able to break the rules and give Persian art a unique vitality.
For example, the bird element that often appears in Persian art, which cleverly perches between the letters and flowers of the Qur'an inscriptions, is harmonious and flexible.
Such drawings can be found everywhere in ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and even manuscript paintings.
Regardless of the period, they can be regarded as models representing the most brilliant achievements of Iranian art.
It is these vivid representations of people and animals that distinguish Persian art from contemporary art elsewhere in the Islamic world.
Persian art can develop an eclectic and vibrant character, influenced by geographical location in addition to cultural and religious factors.
For centuries, Persia has been on a land bridge connecting Asia and the Mediterranean world, thus being able to absorb cultural elements from different regions such as China, Central Asia, Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt.
In addition to the miniature paintings mentioned above, there are many cultural elements and classic craftsmanship, which have been transformed into distinctive Persian art through the creative transformation of the Persians.
Taking China as an example, papermaking was introduced to Persia in the 7th century, and the Persians improved on this basis, making the special paper production process decorated with color and gold become a symbol of Persian art.
The phoenix became a cypriot, and its slender and flowing tail feathers adorned many Persian paintings.
In the land of central and central Asia, many ethnic groups have lived successively, undertaken the mission of connecting the Eurasian continent, and also carried diverse cultures.
Persian art born here draws on different artistic traditions of the East and the West, and has unique aesthetic value, as well as eternal charm and vitality.
Pink Mosque
Well, that's it for today's introduction to Persian aesthetics during the Islamic period.
As an ancient civilization with a long history, the mystery of Persian art is certainly not exhaustive in a short article.
If you are also interested in Persian art, welcome to interact with Xiaoyin in the comment area~
bibliography
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