Methods of Vision and Visual Perception in Persian Miniature and Islamic Optics

Methods of Vision and Visual Perception in Persian Miniature and Optics

Based on the Paintings from the 13th to 16th  Century and Ibn Al-Haytham's Ideas.

 

Al-Zahra University (Iran/ Tehran)

Faculty of Art

PhD Dissertation

Maryam Keshmiri

July. 2018

Abstract

Persian miniature paintings from the 13^th to 16^th century indicate that, in order to represent the scenes, Iranian miniaturists followed special principles which reflect a unique way of vision and visual understanding. The same case can be drawn in Islamic Optics and Iranian old perspective of the 13^th century that based on Ibn-Alhaytham and his followers clearly explain the methods of vision and perceiving objects. The above mentioned points would raise the following questions: Were Persian miniatures, in their depictions of the concretes, influenced by its contemporary scientific findings? If so, what would be the principles and proofs which lead to such a conclusion? The thesis in hand will show that the findings of Islamic Optics can explain numerous bases of Iranian miniatures such as perspective, presentation of the third dimension of the objects، depictions of details of items, conceptualization, pattern making, methods of coloring, choosing materials and Iranian manuscript art. This is a fundamental research with a historical approach. The historical as well as the visual documents (the miniatures) have been gathered with a librarian method and have been evaluated and used in a descriptive-analytic approach. The samples have been chosen to indicate the ways in which miniatures were affected by Islamic Optics and Iranian old perspective in the mentioned realms. This thesis aims to prove the fact that the same closeness found between miniatures and literature, mysticism, rhetoric and theology can be observed in relation with other contemporary realms such as science. Miniatures can be a visual and practical representation of the scientific findings of their times and even further, a representation of the ways people used to perceive the universe.

Key Terms

Traditional Persian Paintings, Islamic Optics, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), Theory of Vision, Visual Perception.

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