The Meaning of Order in Persian Painting (The Case Study of Mourning on the Death of Timur)

The Mourning on the death of Timur is adapted from the Timurid Zafar-Nameh (The Book of Victory), 935 AH – 1529 AD, which is authored by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi. Painting Works in this book are attributed to Kamal al-Din Behzad. The structure of this image in this research is taken into account.

The aim of this study is to explore hidden and clear structures of the above image. Apart from displaying the painter's ability in using visual means to express the content better, the present paper proves arranging visual elements and the existence of a regular structure in this image. Also, symbolic secrets and meaning of numbers are used to create an order in infrastructure of the painting; four numbers are obtained that in many cases, they are repeated in arrangement of the image elements in addition to proving the existence of strong organization and composition in this artwork, symbols of death and eternal life are concerned with the image subject. This is another reason for non-random composition of the visual elements and the existence of its strong structure.