Persian art and architecture : beauty of form and color

The rich culture of Persia and the skillful hands of Persian masters create beautiful art and architecture.  Persia was well placed at the middle of the ancient silk roads between the East and the West civilizations.  Through centuries of cultural exchanges, Persian art gained its mastery and also made significant impacts on others.

Among various Persian handicrafts, Persian carpet and tableware are my favorites. They are not only skillfully made with beautiful designs but are also decorated with colors in harmony.  High quality items are expensive as they command high artistic value.

(Fine Persian carpet with life tree design)

    

(Beautiful plates with lapis lazuli color)

With long Islamic tradition, mosques are the most important architectures in Iran.  Over the years, many masters and architects built beautiful mosques in different Iranian cities.  Their beautiful domes and minarets shine over the city sky. 


(Lotfollah Mosque, Isfahan)

 

(Grand interior design of  the Lotfollah Mosque)

If you are in Isfahan, Naghs-e Jahan Square is the place you must see.  In the square, you can see jewels of Safavid architecture: the Lotfollah Mosque and the Shah Mosque. These great works were built over five hundred years ago.  Their grand design and beautiful decorations of stucco and mosaic tiles still command high status among the Islamic architecture.

(Geometric designs of mosaic tiles)

Just after seeing a few examples of Persian art and architecture, you will note that they are rich in geometric design. There are meanings behind the Islamic patterns.  The three basic shapes are used to symbolize:
  - the square of earth or materiality,
  - the triangle of human consciousness, and
  - the hexagon (or circle) of Heaven.

Nature light is also used to enrich the architecture design.  Similar to the rose windows in Catholic churches, color glass of beautiful patterns is commonly used in Persian houses.

(House windows with colorful glass)

Persian garden : paradise of the world

Iranians love garden.  Besides mosque, garden is probably the most popular place for Iranians.  Their strong appreciation of garden can be explained by its geographical environment.  Most of Iran is on the plateau surrounded by mountains and deserts. With limited rainfall, most of the land is bleak and dreary except the short Spring time. Inside the garden, its foliage and fountain give people the sense of peace, security and abundance.

(Iran plateau)

Development of Persian garden begun several thousand years ago.  Ancient Persian invented the qanat system to collect underground water for drinking and cultivation.  Precious water is regarded as source of life.  The most common feature of a Persian garden is water stream in its center with tree lanes on both sides.  Even better is to have water fountains along the way.

(Dowlat Abad Garden, Yazd)

Tall trees are planted in the garden to provide privacy and security from outside.  Iranians also like to have fruit trees, palm trees, roses and other flowers in their gardens. 

(Eram Garden, Shiraz)

Most of the historical palaces or summer houses of Iranian kings have gardens.  For example, Shah Abbas II  built his Chehel Sotoun Palace with a huge pavilion in the middle of his garden with a long pool. The pavilion of twenty columns is called forty columns pavilion due to water refection.

(Chehel Sotoun in Isfahan and its "forty columns" pavilion) 

During our tour of Iran, we have visited more than six Persian gardens.  One of the most interested one is the Fin Garden in Kashan.  Crystal clear water is channeled through the garden.  With the difference in levels within the garden, non-stop water stream and fountains make the garden full of life.

(Fin Garden, Kashan)

(Water fountain in each junction of the garden paths)

(Beautiful decoration in the Fin Garden)

The Iranian vision of garden as paradise has permeated their thinking, arts and poems.  Hafez is one of the most famous Iranian poets.  He wrote a poem titled "one rose is enough".  Below is the translation by Robert Bly.

One rosy face from the world's garden for us is enough,
And the shade of that one cypress in the field
Strolling along gracefully for us is enough.

I want to be far away from people whose words
And deeds don't match.  Among the morose and heavy-
Hearted, a heavy glass of wine for us is enough.

Some people say that good deeds will earn them
A gated house in heaven.  Being rakes and natural beggars,
A room in the tavern for us is enough.

Sit down beside the stream sometime and watch
Life flow past.  That brief hint of this world
That passes by so swiftly for us is enough.

Look at the flow of money and the suffering
Of the world.  If this glimpse of profit and loss
Is not enough for you, for us it is enough.

The dearest companion of all is here.  What
Else is there to look for?  The delight of a few words
With the soul friend for us enough.

Don't send me away from your door, oh, God,
Even to Paradise.  Your alleyway, compared,
To all space and time, for us is enough.

It's inappropriate, Hafez, for you to complain
Of your gifts from Fate.  Your nature is like water;
Your beautifully flowing poems for us are enough.

Persepolis, Iran : past glory of the ancient Persian Empire

In 1971, just few years before his down fall, Mohammad Reza of the last Pahlavi Shah hosted the 2500th year celebration of the Persian Empire in Persepolis.  Foreign royals and distinguished guests were invited to attend the event.  Many millions of dollars were spent on the celebration just to make good impression on the Iranian people and foreign guests. This is one of the last acts that Mohammad Reza tried to hold onto his power through the memory of the Persian Empire.

Last month, my wife and I made our first trip to Iran.  Persepolis was definitely one of the highlights for our tour.  More than 2500 years ago, the Achaemenids created a vast empire across Central Asia, Turkey, Egypt and India. They also built a grand ceremonial palace in Persepolis to receive tribunes from different people and tribes of the empire. The palace was built on the foot of Mountain Mercy over a large terrace of 125,000 square meters.  When we saw it nowadays, we could still feel its greatness.

(The Apadana Courtyard of Persepolis)

 
Most visitors will enter the palace through its north-west stairway and the Gate of All Lands.  Right away, visitors will be impressed by the stone guardian bulls of the doorway.  Each guardian bull has eagle wings, bull body and human head. 

(The Gate of All Lands)

You can image that tribal people from afar in the Persian empire were led through the Gate of All Lands.  They waited in patience until the Persian guards led them to the Audience Palace in the Apadana Courtyard.  With their gifts in their hands, they were deeply impressed by the facades and panels along the way.

(Stone panel with Darius the Great on top and Persian guards below)

(Stairway façade showing the lion goring the bull)

Despite the passage of time, many huge stone columns are still found standing in the palace.  Although the roof had long collapsed and disappeared, we can still find huge stone column capitals of different animals.  Many of them are preserved on site and many of them are housed in museums. 

(Double-headed eagle capital)

(Double-headed bull capital in the National Museum, Tehran)

Along the stairways around the Apadana, there are beautiful facades of Persian guards and gift-bearing delegations.  Historians and archaeologists have identified more than 23 different groups of tribal people in these facades, including Armenians, Egyptians, Arabs, Scythians, Indians and even Ethiopians.  Their gift items  and animals, including lamps, bulls, horses and lions, can still be seen clearly in the facades.

(Persian guards on the stairway)



(Gift-bearing delegations led by guards)

After the religious revolution, the West has an unfair image of Iran.  During our visit, we have interacted with different local people.  They are friendly and are eager to communicate with foreign visitors.  They are also proud of their heritage and culture.  From what we have experienced and seen, we definitely agree.

If you are interested to know more about the ancient Persian empire, you can read Allen, Lindsay. The Persian Empire: a history. London: The British Museum Press, 2005.