A Review on the Social Reflections of the Image of Naser Al-Din Shah in the Royal Illustration Press (A Case Study of the Image of Naser Al-Din Shah in the Issue 1 Of Sharaf Newspaper)

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

10.22084/nb.2023.27284.2543

Abstract

Abstract
So far, valuable studies have been done about the paintings of the Qajar Period from an artistic point of view, especially visual analysis. But their more accurate understanding requires the application of meta-aesthetic approaches such as the sociology of art, since, based on illustrated historical documents such as the ancient reliefs of Iran, the social role of art was in the service of the ruling political class. Based on this, the following paper examines the social function of the first image illustrated in the number one of the second court newspaper during the Naseri era. The approach is based on “reflection,” which could be used to answer this question: What social actions does the image of the fourth shah of the Qajar Period reflect? By studying the mentioned image, this article seeks to achieve a meta-aesthetic analysis, so the purpose of this article is not to analyze the subject from the perspective of visual structure or press graphics, but rather to identify the social actions. The research is done using qualitative and descriptive-analytical approaches. The data collection was done based on the library method and the analysis of illustrations. To answer the question mentioned, the approach was determined based on the theory of reflection. According to this theory, artworks convey many concepts about the state of society, such as the political structure. The results show that the expressive language of art as a promotional strategy has an effective action in the direction of strengthening the political and social domination of society, and therefore, Naser al-Din Shah consciously ordered the formation of a range of types of art, such as the court illustration press, in such a way that it is clearly able to reflect the face of the power and strength of his reign in a real way. This is important because, on the one hand, it reflects the social action of art for a long time, and on the other hand, it has reflected the two-way connection between art and politics.
Keywords: Naser al-Din Shah, Reflection, Illustration Press, Social Action.
 
Introduction
Looking at the history of Iranian art and its surviving documents shows that in different historical periods, even in ancient Iran, art and artists have always served society, especially the political culture ruling it. And this feature was not only limited to the Qajar era, because a review of pictorial documents in the long history of Iranian art, especially in the reliefs of Persepolis, Taq Bostan, etc., clearly shows that the production of some works of art was realized based on obedience to the political elites ruling society. In fact, the social nature of art is such that it serves the ruling structures, including its political dimension. By analyzing the artworks of the Qajar era, we could see that the interaction between art and politics could be seen during the time of Fath Ali Shah. He was the first Islamic king of Iran to mint coins with his face. Based on his experiences during his time as a crown prince, he understood that exercising power and gaining legitimacy by force and bribery was an old tradition that led to the fall of Agha Mohammad Khan. For this reason, he took another approach, which was the exploitation of the influential language of art. A language that could indirectly convey the concept of power at the level of society. His successors also benefited from this policy. Following the propagandistic technique of his grandfather, including the creation of reliefs, Naser al-Din Shah ordered to establish some reliefs of himself. But another important point is that, due to the synchroneity of the Naser al-Din Shah’s reign with the arrival of modernity in Iran, his propaganda methods underwent fundamental changes compared to previous kings. For instance, the production of court illustrated press, which is the study subject of this article, both technically and visually, deserves independent research. To achieve a correct analysis, it seems that the approaches aimed at the knowledge of society that are applied in the field of art, such as the “reflection” approach, are suitable as a cognitive tool. Based on this approach, although the production of the press was the result and, at the same time, a reflection of the social reforms of the Qajar era, especially in the political and cultural spheres, its instrumental use as a propaganda medium was to strengthen the ruling power while reflecting the interaction between the ruling political structure and this cultural tool.
 
Identified Traces 
The main function of the press is to inform, so the design style of the visual information contained in it should be as close to reality as possible, but since in the first publication of the press, due to several reasons such as the impossibility of printing photos in lithography, it was not possible to use news photos. For this reason, the basics of visual information design in the royal illustration press were made possible by artists who painted based on photos. In the following, the social actions studied in the article will be mentioned, which include: Naser al-Din Shah, the centralization of gravity and the distribution of power, enjoying the Khvarenah or the divine right of the king to rule, and the continuation of the tradition of idealistic portraiture in the form of realistic portraits. It is possible to understand the concepts of these actions by analyzing the image of Naser al-Din Shah, because for the audience’s eyes and mind to focus solely on the king as the center of gravity and power, no other visual element has been drawn. Also, what made the king superior to others was the possession of Khvarenah. In a closer look, the building of this false position played a key role in the strength and continuity of the monarchy, according to the custom of the previous rulers of Iran. This issue was to the extent that disobeying the king’s order was considered equal to disobeying the commands of God. In addition to the mentioned cases, the printing of the painting of the fourth Qajar king in the cultural media, or, in fact, in the first government illustrated press that had a far-reaching view, was the continuation and survival of the tradition of portrait painting at the court during the era of Feth Ali Shah, which became face painting in the Naseri Period. Later, with the introduction of photography, it became possible to show the realistic and non-idealistic faces of the Shah.
 
Conclusion 
Examining the social actions of Naser al-Din Shah’s painting based on the mentioned case study reflected the use of the media and the power of the visual arts. Visual arts, as a visual language, is a language without code that is direct and influential. Based on this, it has played an effective role in achieving political and social dominance and proved the legitimacy of the ruling system, and the above-mentioned painting clearly reflects the authority of the royal system and establishes its power. In a closer look, although the images of the fourth Shah of Qajar in newspapers shows the formation of illustrated newspapers in Iran, but it also shows that the ruling power created the platform for the formation of this type of cultural media as a propaganda strategy to achieve its political goals, and at the same time, this goal was formed to support the ruling power. On the one hand, this importance has reflected the social action of art for a long time, and on the other hand, it reflects the two-way connection between art and politics and vice versa.

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pazhoheshha-ye Bastan shenasi Iran
Volume 13, Issue 39
March 2024
Pages 327-348

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