The Evolution of Bathhouse Miniatures in Terms of Structural and Decorative Aspects in the 9th to the 11th Centuries AH

The bath houses are one of the most important buildings in Islamic architecture. Literary works have created an important treasure for dealing with structural and semantic issues in the works of bath houses. There is an emphasis on this claim. In this paper, in order to review the structure and decorations of them in the paintings, we have studied and compared each one. The main goal of this study was to analyze the structure and decorations and strategies used in the paintings of the bath houses. In this regard, these questions are discussed: What is the structure of elements and decorations in the paintings of the baths based on documents and historical texts? Is the evolution of the illustrations between the spatial structure and decorations of each section based on the information that the pictures give us?  The research method is descriptive - analytical and data collection method is library-based. In the part of the theoretical foundations of the study, four books of Nizami Ganjavi’s Makhzan ul-Asrar, written by Nizami Ganjavi, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Sadi’s Majalis al-Oshaq and Jami’s Haft Orang have been studied. After classifying the illustrations in terms of the intended components to facilitate reading of the images of the baths, by examining each of the works of painting in each of the literary texts, it can be concluded that the illustrations have a developmental course according to different eras of drawing. This trend is more focused on one or two spaces by adding different spaces to the painting. This process has been changed in later years by adding decorations and more details to the painting; so that the composition of the painting has not changed, but attention to the decorations and events of the margins is highlighted. In the following stage, this linear trend of the painter has been illustrated by choosing a space as illustration. One of the important points in the design of the bath space is the regularity in the interior, and hierarchy of spaces. The hierarchy for entering dirty while exiting tidy and clean is considered completely in the hierarchy of the illustrations. All spaces such as outer space or shape have regularity and are completely drawn, which are clearly seen in the illustrations. The architecture of graphic baths has spatial commonalities such as Garmkhaneh, Sarbineh, treasury, Miandar, roof and Gavro, and the Garmkhaneh and Sarbineh as the main spaces for presence of people, represent the most illustrative events among other components and spaces of graphic baths. In paintings, paying attention to proportions is one of the key points which expresses the significance and importance of space. In paintings, the greenhouse space is often depicted larger than other existing spaces and generally has symmetrical and square proportions, whereas the interior plans of the Garmkhaneh and the upper room are depicted in an octagonal shape. In addition to the evolution of painting, we are also witnessing the evolution of the ability of the painter, who in recent centuries has been able to depict all the spaces of the bathhouse. The use of different materials has made the paintings in this century different from the available paintings of the previous centuries. As mentioned before, the use of various colors is very important and also the color blue has been used more often in tiles and Garmkhaneh spaces and flooring. Apart from the pictures of Majalis al-Oshaq, which also depict the exterior space of the bathhouse, we rarely see the outside space of the bathhouse other than the roof of the bathhouse; and it is also related to the recent centuries. The results of this research show that the eleventh century can be considered as a turning point in the display of structural and decorative dimensions among the illustrations, despite the fact that there are commonalities in the paintings and ornaments in the paintings and ornaments of each of the illustrations that in the present structural dimension have many similarities to aspects of the ornaments. The structure in bathhouse paintings is expressed as features such as "form” and “shape", "proportions", "composition" and “decorations” as the basics of "geometric form", "color painting" and "painting materials". The evolution of the illustrations regarding the perspective, the excessive show of ornamentation and the distance from the patterns of previous centuries has been promoted, and has led to the creation of some innovations in the decorations. Based on what has been said about the study of drawings and their comparison in the temporal dimension and aspects of composition and proportions, colors and materials and geometric patterns, it can be inferred that in general, physical and functional similarities are more than their differences. Also, in the course of the linear evolution there is more commonality in the dimension of components and decorations and details than the structural and formal dimension.