A research on how the personality traits of Imam Ali (a.s.) are manifested in the painting of a coffee house - the practical title of portraying the life of Imam Ali (a.s.) according to the capabilities of a coffee house painting to be presented in public space

Abstract:

The painting of coffeehouses in the Qajar period arose from the heart of the society through artists of the people and opened its way to be able to depict the issues that were the concern of the people. In the meantime, religious topics have been of great interest to people and painters, and among all of them, the life of Imam Ali (a.s.) has been receiving a lot of attention due to the special devotion of Shiites to him, and various pictures of him have been painted. Until now, these paintings have not been collected and examined separately in a collection, and in the research that you are doing, an attempt has been made to collect and introduce many of these paintings and information related to them through the library and the field, and be analyzed and examined by using the descriptive, analytical, and historical method, so as to identify the personality traits of Hazrat Ali (a.s.) in them. According to their adaptation to the subject, their elements and the narration of the story have been done. After all these searches, it can be concluded that Hazrat Ali (AS) as a role model for Muslims, especially Shiites, has many personality traits that originate from his full faith in God; Among this multitude of positive qualities, the coffee house painters paid more attention to their courage, generosity and dedication, which is all influenced by their heart's faith in God, and these three characteristics are clearly presented in almost all the paintings.

Key words: Hazrat Ali (AS), Islamic art, Iranian painting, coffee house painting, personality traits of Imam Ali (AS)

Introduction:

Coffee house painting by popular artists, in Durhi Qajar rose from the heart of the community and opened his way so that he could portray the issues that were the concern of the people. Among the religious topics that were of great interest to people and painters, due to the special devotion of Shiites to Hazrat Ali (AS), the stories of his life have been painted a lot. Considering the special and distinct personality of this great man in the history of Islam, the question comes to mind that, among the numerous personality traits of this model and the great Shia, which traits are more prominent in the works of coffee house artists? In the research you are doing, many of these paintings have been tried to be collected separately in a collection. Through the introduction of paintings with the themes of the life of Imam Ali (AS), in addition to their artistic analysis, the personality characteristics of that Imam are expressed through the examination of the paintings and the description of the stories. Accordingly, in the above research, twenty-seven paintings of coffee houses related to this topic and their related information have been collected and introduced through library and field. In this treatise, using the descriptive, analytical and historical method, after introducing the painting of coffee houses in the second chapter and brief explanations about the life and personality characteristics of Hazrat Ali (a.s.) in the third chapter, in the fourth chapter, each of these works is first explained about the subject, then analyzed and Analyzes have been done according to their compatibility with the subject, their elements and the narrative of the stories. After all these searches, the result was that, among the multitude of positive personality traits of Hazrat Ali (pbuh), coffeehouse painters paid more attention to his courage, generosity, and dedication, which are all influenced by his heart's faith in God, and these three characteristics are mentioned in almost all paintings.

Imagination or painting of coffeehouses is one of the valuable examples of Iranian painting, which was born in the heart of the community due to the fundamental changes in art during the Qajar period, and unlike the currents of academic painting, it continued to grow beyond the scope of official art by maintaining its originality. Imam Hussain (a.s.) staged Pahlavi, Epic, Naqqali and special social events. Religious issues such as the lives of imams and elders of Islam have always been the concern of many painters of this school, as many works have been created based on such issues.But it is surprising that this art has received less specialized attention and many of its aspects have not been investigated, and it should be mentioned that there is no comprehensive information about the ways of dealing with the various periods of Imam Ali's life and his characteristics through the paintings of this school.

Given the originality of the subjects and the popular nature of coffeehouse painting, the need for more precision and focus on it is felt. Considering the devotion of Muslims, especially Shiites, to Hazrat Ali (a.s.) and the attraction, repulsion and impact of his life, painters have used a lot of topics related to him, especially in the painting of coffee houses, but these topics and methods of manifesting his characteristics have not been properly studied, and a comprehensive and deeper investigation is necessary. Based on this, the above research tries to identify, introduce and study the life of Imam Ali (a.s.) from the perspective of content, application, form and meaning in the coffeehouse school, to take a role model from them to show the special issues of this noble person's life in today's public spaces. The personality of Imam Ali (a.s.) and in what way has it been highlighted and in the center of attention in this school?

Considering the special characteristic of coffee house painting that was used in a public place such as a coffee house, this question comes to mind that, can a new public use suitable for today's world be created for it in order to preserve this popular art? The painting of coffee houses is a model for painting public spaces.

1-4- Research method

The above research is based on the purpose of the fundamental type and based on the nature and method of the descriptive, analytical and historical type. In this research, while using the library method, by observing the works and relying on the opinions of experts, through specialized interviews and analysis of existing samples, a field research is done to achieve the goal. The main difference between the above treatise and other works. Among all the researches, we can mention examples that refer to religious and epic categories in the paintings of this school and in which there are also works related to the life of Amirul Momineen (AS). It is worth mentioning that considering the long history and the importance of book illustration in Iran and the existence of two valuable books, Haidari's attack and Khavarannameh, which specifically deal with the wisdom, bravery, wars and special points of the character and life of Imam Ali (a.s.) and have been illustrated many times; More researches have been done in the field of painting, which can definitely be very effective in advancing the process of this research in both practical and theoretical parts. The details of some researches related to the present project are as follows:- Ahmadishapourabadi, Akram, Examining the symbolic elements of Shiite art in the manuscripts of Khavarannameh and Haidari's manuscripts, Master's thesis, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, 2013.

The Khavarannameh manuscripts and Heydari's manuscripts, which are among the best religious epics of Iran, deal with parts of the life of Hazrat Ali (pbuh) and the description of his moral qualities and the influence of opinions Shia is evident on the themes and elements used in the illustrations of this version. According to the author of the treatise, the above images in these two versions have a significant contribution in describing and explaining Shia beliefs and include Shia beliefs. Because throughout history, Shi'ism has always been in a tight spot to declare its existence and has not been able to express its opinions and beliefs freely. The same feature exists in the essence of artistic expression, which has caused the artist not to express something explicitly in his works; Rather, use gestures, hints, allusions and signs. Therefore, by examining the elements and signs in the works of art, it is possible to understand the influence of Shia thought. Considering this importance, in this treatise, by examining the elements and signs in these two versions, we have tried to find out the influence of Shia thought and thought, and to show the distinguishable elements of Shia beliefs and their relationship with the religion of Islam.