بررسي تطبيقي نقش مايه فرشته در سنگ قبور آرامگاه ارامنه و تخت فولاد اصفهان

A comparative study of the image of angel as a motif engraved on the tombstones of Armenians’ cemetery and those of Takht-e-Foolad cemetery in Esfahan.

تاثير متقابل هنر مسيحيت و هنر دوران اسلامي در ايران، با گسيل ارامنه جلفاي قديم به جلفاي نو در اصفهان در دوران صفويه رنگ و بويي تازه به خود گرفت و يكي از نمود ها و تجلي اين اثرگذاري هاي متقابل، حجاري بر روي سنگ قبور مي باشد. از جمله تصاوير مشترك منقوش در دو قبرستان تخت فولاد و ارامنه اصفهان ، نقش مايه فرشته است. در اين پژوهش سعي شده تا علاوه بر برداشت اسنادي، با تصوير برداري ميداني تقريبا 50 سنگ قبر داراي نقش فرشته، به روش توصيفي- تحليلي، شناخت و معناشناسي اين نقش مايه، امكان پذير و وجوه تشابه و تفارق آن در دو گورستان بررسي گردد. نقشمايه فرشته در تخت فولاد )علاوه بر ناثير پذيري از هنر ايران باستان و دوران اسلامي(، بيشتر متاثر از دوران رنسانس بوده ولي تصاوير فرشته در قبرستان ارامنه بيشتر متاثر از هنر بيزانس بوده است. علي رغم مشتركاتي همچون جنسيت، تعداد بالها و... در به تصوير كشيدن نقش مايه فرشته در دو قبرستان، نمودي واضح مبني بر تاثير ارامنه بر هنرمندان حجار تخت فولاد مشاهده نگرديد. ولي نقوش اسليمي و ختايي در همنشيني با نقش مايه فرشته را مي توان از نمود هاي تاثير متقابل فرهنگ ايراني-اسلامي و ارامنه- مسيحي در نظر گرفت.

The mutual impacts of Christian art and the art of Islamic period on each other faced a new color and flavor with the migration of Armenians from Old Jolfa in Armenia to New Jolfa in Esfahan in Safavids era. The engravings on the tombstones in the cemetery of Armenian Christians and those of Tahkt-e-Foolad cemetery are outstanding displays of these bilateral influences. The image of angel is one of the most important images that can be found in both cemeteries the root of which can be traced and explored in the scriptures and thoughts of Christianity and Islam with its influence on people’s worldly and other worldly life. Alongside the documented inferences on site and field photography of over 3000 tombstones, and analyzing about 50 of them through a descriptive and analytical approach, the researchers of the project have tried to recognize and interpret the motif of angel and study the comparisons and contrasts in the images of angel while covering important aspects such as features of appearance, number of images, stature or body position , actions, gender, shape of wings, outfit types, and surrounding images to reveal just part of the cultural, social, artistic, and ideological influences between the two cultures of Islam and Christianity. In this research, as a point of departure, an account of the migration of Christian Armenians from Armenia to Iran from Old Jolfa is presented. Then the motif of angel is studied through the religious texts and narrations and following that in addition to the images on the tombstones in both cemeteries, the features of angels with regard to the appearance are individually taken into consideration. As the final step the images are compared and contrasted based on some special aspects and features including: the number of images, stature or body position, actions, gender of angel, shape of wings, outfit types, and surrounding images. In addition to being influenced and evolved by the role of dominating thoughts in ancient Iran, the images of angel as a motif in Takht-e-Foolad have been more affected by Renaissance period. However, this influence in the cemetery of Armenian Christians is more of Byzantine art than that of Renaissance. In spite of the presence of some common features such as the gender of the angels, the number of wings, and the like, no clear evidence was found to show the impact of Armenian Christians engravers on the engraving masters of Takht-e-Foolad in their depiction of angel on the stone slabs. But the Eslimi (Arabesque) and Khotai images, as accompanying and surrounding images juxtaposed with the image of angel can be considered as evident illustrations of bilateral influences amidst Iranian- Islamic culture and Armenian-Christian culture. It should be taken into consideration that through climatic conditions and erosion and also due to the lack of proper care and attention by officials most of the tombstones are destroyed in the course of time. Surely the registration and conservation of this art heritage necessitate the complementary and supplementary researches.