مقایسۀ تاریخیِ دگرگونی ساختاری نگاره‌های شاهنامۀ بایسنغری و تهماسبی

Abstract
The Baysunghur Shahnameh from the Timurid period and the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb from the Safavid period are two masterpieces of Iranian culture and art that stand without parallel. The images contained in these two manuscripts, a number of which are shared in subject matter, have consistently attracted the attention of art historians from a variety of perspectives. Among the approaches capable of illuminating the distinctive values of these images, formal analysis occupies a central place. Yet it is not formal analysis in isolation that proves most revealing, but rather a mode of analysis that also registers the historical transition from the Timurid to the Safavid era. It has been argued that such a historically situated formal analysis can disclose the shift in artistic sensibility that distinguishes these two periods. Building upon this premise, the present research first identifies a theoretical lacuna within twentieth-century formalist theories and then advances a specific reading of formalism, one that incorporates the “general theme” of a work (deliberately setting aside considerations of content and subject matter) into the examination of line, color, and composition. Adopting this framework, the study measures the degree of alignment between the formal elements and the overarching general theme in two images that appear in both manuscripts: “The Meeting of Ardeshir and Gulnar,” which is governed by a romantic theme, and “The First Labour of Esfandiar,” which is shaped by an epic theme. The investigation is guided by two principal research questions. First, which of these two images, by bringing its formal components into harmony with its general theme, succeeds more fully in evoking the appropriate aesthetic emotion? Second, can we conclude that one of these historical periods, or possibly both, accomplished this task more effectively by aligning formal elements with the intended general theme? The findings of the study indicate that the Shah Tahmasb manuscript was more successful than the Baysunghur manuscript in coordinating form with general theme. By extension, it appears plausible to claim that the Safavid period, to a greater degree than the Timurid, was able to evoke an aesthetic emotion that faithfully corresponds to the general theme of the works.
Keywords: Historical Transformation of the Form; Formalism; General Theme; Baysunghur Sahnameh; Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb.
 
Introduction
The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi stands as the preeminent cultural and literary document of Iran. Throughout the centuries, successive rulers have assembled artists and craftsmen to embellish and illustrate this monumental work, leading to the production of numerous illuminated Shahnameh manuscripts across different historical periods. The Timurid and Safavid eras, celebrated as particularly luminous epochs in Iranian culture and art, witnessed the creation of two of the most treasured illustrated Shahnamehs: The Baysunghur Shahnameh and the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb. The enduring artistic values of these two works can be examined from multiple perspectives. One of the most revealing approaches is a structural analysis of their painted images, which can bring to light the underlying conceptions and aesthetic sensibilities specific to each period. Both manuscripts share a number of common subjects. For the present study, two images have been selected: “The Meeting of Ardeshir and Gulnar,” which embodies a romantic theme, and “The First Labour of Esfandiar,” which represents a heroic theme. This research aims to investigate the artistic sensibilities of the Timurid and Safavid periods through a detailed structural analysis of these two images, with the expectation that the findings may be broadly applicable to other illustrations within these landmark manuscripts.
 
Discussion
With this introduction, it seems that no method is as capable as the formalist approach of revealing the structural transformations of the images in these two monumental works. However, the present study seeks a specific interpretation of this method, which will be explained further along with the research questions and hypotheses. The formalist method is concerned with the form of the work itself, as opposed to its content. Therefore, when examining an artwork through this method, any attention to content, subject matter, political-social conditions, or any external factors unrelated to the structure of the work itself is dismissed.
Some 20th-century theorists, particularly Clive Bell as a pioneer of this approach, aimed to develop a universal language for aesthetic evaluation, identifying the primary factor for eliciting aesthetic emotion as the form of the artwork. Bell, by introducing the concept of “significant form,” attempted to distinguish between simple forms and those harmonious, proportionate forms capable of evoking “aesthetic emotion”. However, Bell becomes caught in a vicious theoretical circle, making the definition of significant form contingent on eliciting aesthetic emotion, while the elicitation of aesthetic emotion is in turn contingent upon possessing significant form, without specifying the objective qualities that constitute such form. Many of his critics have denied that lines, colors, composition, and space can define the value of a work of art as art independently of any other factor. Relying on these valid critiques, we argue that the factor in question could be the “general theme” of the work, which fundamentally differs from content or subject matter, both of which are entirely unrelated to structural analysis. In the absence of this factor, formalist analysis remains tenuous. A detailed explanation of this issue is deferred to Section 1 of the study. Thus, grounded in the foregoing interpretation, this research examines the structural elements of two images shared by the Baysunghur and Tahmasp Shahnamehs—each image governed by a distinct overarching theme—across the transition from the Timurid to the Safavid era, in order to lay the groundwork for answering two specific research questions: 1. Which of these images, through the alignment of its formal components with its general theme, has been more successful in evoking a corresponding aesthetic emotion? and 2. How can one conclude that one of these two historical periods (or both) has more effectively elicited aesthetic emotion by aligning formal elements with the general theme?
The hypothesis of this research, formulated in response to the above questions, is that the Tahmasbi version has been more successful than the Baysunghur version in aligning form with the general theme; and, by generalizing this conclusion to other images within these two versions, one may infer that the Safavid era, through dramatizing the pictorial narrative, has been more effective than the Timurid era in eliciting the aesthetic emotion corresponding to the general themes of the works. A crucial aspect of the present study’s methodology, arguably its innovation, lies in applying this approach to analyze the structural aspects of the works in relation to the “general theme”. (It is worth reiterating that the sole reason for selecting these two shared images is their differing general themes.)
The method of this research is descriptive-analytical, and the data were collected from library resources. Subsequently, the collected data were analyzed to examine the selected images in relation to their general themes from the Timurid and Safavid eras.
 
Conclusion
This research first delineates the fundamental tenets of formalist theory, identifies its shortcomings in analyzing pictorial works, and proposes an alternative perspective. It emphasizes the significance of an intervening factor, termed the “general theme,” in structural analysis and in assessing the alignment of formal elements with this theme for eliciting a corresponding aesthetic emotion. Subsequently, by analyzing selected images common to the Baysunghur Shahnameh and the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb to historically compare their structural transformations, with a focus on the relationship between form and general theme in evoking aesthetic emotion, the research addresses the following questions:
1. Which of these images, by aligning their formal components with their general theme, have been more successful in evoking a corresponding aesthetic emotion?
• Based on the analysis, both images from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb appear to have been more successful than their counterparts in the Baysunghur Shahnameh in aligning formal elements with the general theme and eliciting a corresponding aesthetic emotion.
2. How can one conclude that one of these two historical periods (or both) has better achieved the goal of eliciting aesthetic emotion through aligning formal elements with the general theme?
• As observed, Safavid artists, by transcending the narrative text and dramatizing the story, employing fluid and dynamic lines—including wavy, circular, and oblique lines—and utilizing a diverse color palette, have been notably more successful than Timurid artists in aligning formal elements with the general theme of the work and eliciting the corresponding aesthetic emotion.