The Position of Color and Painting in Islamic Architecture and Iran

The culture and literature in Islamic period in Iran include a medley of discussions about colors which per se have had huge influence in the Islamic art. This issue has been conveyed through the holy hadiths and verses, literary and art books. The existence of art works remained from the Islamic periods implies the above-mentioned truth. Colors in art and Islamic culture of Iran has been classified to the degrees such as the most valuable, the noblest, the most beautiful, the highest and the like; then they have been selected and utilized. The indications are the selection of golden domes, the most frequent use of blue background and white text as well as the sacred concept of green. In addition, from the early historical periods of Islam to now, the colors are the factors in expressing the identity of nations and nationalities. The examples such as black, red and white clothes worn by Qizilbashs in Safavid dynasty can be mentioned. Color is one of the visual evidences and its various aspects such as the psychological and cognitive effects have been focused in the Islamic culture and art with mystical interpretations and the aesthetic dimensions, especially the discretion in difference aspect of color which has been a guide in many cases. A sacred hadith says: In this hadith, the difference of colors is one of the measures and wisdom of God. Thus, understanding the beauty of world and recognizing its dimensions based on the difference of colors which are such a huge gift becomes real for the human being. The phenomenon of color and colorology allocated such a position in the human life especially in artistic and aesthetic dimensions so that it brought about expertise in the field of production, utilization and recognition. Some books pointed such teachings being common in every spots of the world. For instance, 15 years have been allocated to understand the secrets of colors in Venice. Painters dealt with color more than other classes; architects and the color producers as well as other artists were also constantly involved in color and its related issues. The diversity of colors is beyond the visual understanding of human beings. Based on the research of Iranian scholars, more than 170 color words have been found in the Persian language. The scientific studies into the color items show that there are 5 million colors and may be higher. About seven discussions of colors and essence, quality and their effects were in the deep focus of old philosophers, mystics, poets and the artists of Iran. However others were not indifference to it and paid attention specifically to its dimensions in Iran especially Iranian theology. Aristotle considers the black and white as the two main colors and believes that other colors are the mixture and difference of these colors. For plate, black, white, red and blue are four main colors. The Islamic philosophers such as Ibn Sina, Mulla Sadra, Shaikh al-Ishraq (Master of Illumination) and so forth have in-detail opinions on the phenomenon of colors. The most salient expression of color is its selection for flags that every country selects appropriate colors and symbols regarding their rules, beliefs, interpretations and concepts. Every country manifests its flag in multicolored types or in some cases in single color. For instance, Iran flag bears three colors, green, white and red expressing the belief in Islam, interested in peace and defense of country by sacrificing blood respectively. Green is seen in many Islamic countries and accounted as a paradise color and has a high position in the Islamic theology. Black is considered as an evil color and misfortune and is in the inferior rank although some mention it as the perfection color and the highest color so no color exists beyond black.

کلیدواژه ها:

Color ، Islamic Architecture ، Iranian Architecture