Iconological Analysis of Buyid Dynasty Ceremonial Coins based on the Theory of Erwin Panofsky

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Semnan University, faculti art.

2 Professor at the Art Faculty of Alazahra University. Tehran, Tehran Province.

10.22070/negareh.2021.5461.2501

Abstract

Arts and crafts are a good context for displaying cultural, historical and social structures in different eras. Coins were produced by order of the rulers of each period and the various visual components contained in them played an effective conceptual role. The motifs engraved on the coins are closely related to the culture and art of their time; they can be used to find out the economic, religious and cultural status of the state and the place where the coins were minted and helped researchers to understand the reasons for the continuity of traditions and customs that govern a society. The Iranian-Islamic rule of Al-Buyid ruled over parts of Iran for more than a century and coins affected by their nationality have changes that emphasize the need for the present study. They claimed to be descendants of the Sassanids and they made many efforts to revive the ancient methods and the deep connection of Iranian art in these centuries. Given the importance of the Al-Buyid government of Iranian origin in the first centuries of the advent of Islam, it is necessary to explain the semantic systems governing their pictorial coins with a multi-conceptual approach. One of the approaches to the study of image is iconography; presented by Erwin Panofsky. Panofsky's theory encompasses the three levels of Pre-iconography, iconography analysis, and iconological interpretation. Erwin Panofski gives three different layers of meaning in each image that can be related to the cultural, religious and national spheres that dominate the thought of its producers. The main purpose of this study is to extract the cultural contexts of the coins of the Al-Buyid dynasty as an Iranian-Islamic rule in the early centuries of the advent of Islam based on Panofsky's iconological theory. This article seeks to answer the following questions:
1- How do Al-Buyid coinages conform to the Panofsky’s Pre-iconography, Iconography and Iconological three layers?
2- In examining the mentioned semantic layers, what are the Iranian cultural patterns and the reasons for their use?
In the leading article, the research method is iconic; in the first step, how to match the motifs on the pictorial coins with three semantic layers, Pre-iconography, Iconography and Iconological, are examined. Then, based on Panofsky's triple semantic study, the reasons for adaptation of the patterns of Iranian culture on the pictorial coins are analyzed. The research data obtained from the study of library resources have been analyzed in a descriptive-analytical manner. The statistical population consists of coins from the Al-Buyid period, the images of which are mainly collected from information sources and books. The number of samples in question is 6 pictorial coins related to the Al-Buyid period, which have been selected non-randomly. The analysis in this research has been done qualitatively.
The results indicate that Erwin Panofsky's iconological theory offers a new and effective way in presenting and understanding the content due to the noticeable time interval with the image coins of the Al-Buyid period. Panofsky relates the three different layers of meaning in each image to the cultural, doctrinal and national realms that dominate the thought of its producers. In the adaptation of Al-Buyid pictorial coins with three layers of semantics, Panofsky’s Pre-iconography, Iconography and Iconological, pictorial samples were studied; visual components in coins (patterns and their composition) in the first layer (Pre-iconography), hidden concepts in each motif and their placement relative to each other in the second layer (iconography description), and cultural and historical factors affecting production and the formation of patterns on coins in the third semantic layer (iconological interpretation) were analyzed.
The data obtained from the study of the second and the third layers reinforced the possibility that mainly the patterns and the way they were combined on coins were borrowed from Pre-Islamic Iran. These adaptations also follow various factors such as the tendency of the Iranians to the principles of former governance, the revival of pre-Islamic traditions, the Iranian origin of the Al-Buyid rulers and the acquisition of legitimacy in a limited time by the people and the Abbasid caliphs. With the arrival of Islam in Iran and the tendency of the Iranians towards it, the teachings of the new religion caused significant and effective changes in its culture and artistic manifestations. Some of the pre-Islamic Iranian cultural concepts that have valuable cultural bases maintained their vitality alongside new religious teachings. The role of the governments in power in preserving the cultural components of pre-Islamic times has been very prominent; just as the Al-Buyid rulers in their administration of the territory were led to put the Iranian-Islamic method at the forefront.

Keywords

References

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Negareh Journal
Volume 17, Issue 61
March 2022
Pages 163-177

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History

  • Receive Date: 13 July 2020
  • Revise Date: 11 December 2020
  • Accept Date: 28 December 2020

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