Identifying the Causes of the Emergence of Religious Themes and Its Important Components in the Murals of Religious Monuments of the Qajar Era (Case Study: Sacred Shrines of Guilan Province)

Due to the post-constitutional developments, religious painting was mainly limited to folk paintings, which were mostly produced in sacred shrines by non-court painters and aimed at folk artists. The Qajar dynasty covered a wide variety of subjects, with opportunities for governmental, religious, literary, archeological, scientific, fictional, and everyday propaganda. Due to the economic, political and cultural weakness of this era, art also went to extinction and people turned to the art of fantasy to talk about their pains, desires and beliefs. It was in this art that religion was combined with national beliefs, and it showed the ruling spirit of the society and depicted religious paintings with an approach to the Ashura event. These folk religious paintings of sacred relics are considered a national and spiritual heritage that preserves many values ​​and is tied to the beliefs of the people. In addition to covering the walls or showing a religious theme, these murals were also a social obligation that expressed national and religious identity, and was formed in line with the faiths and beliefs of the people. The observance of the aesthetic principles governing them occurred in close connection and directly with hearts (of artists and people) full of their love for the province and the family of the Prophet of Islam.
The purpose of this study is to identify the components of importance and factors of the emergence of religious themes in works of art. The questions of this article are: 1- What are the factors of the emergence of religious themes in the murals of religious monuments of the Qajar era? 2- What themes and content do the religious murals of the religious monuments of the Qajar era contain? And have these themes and content been observed in the holy shrines of Guilan? 3- What components did the mural artists of the religious monuments of the Qajar era use to show the subject? And have the artists of Guilan's holy shrines benefited from these components? Attempts are made to present the components of importance regarding the subject by emphasizing the spiritual value of human motifs and paying attention to the religious subject and the division and causes of the emergence of these themes in religious monuments. In this research, the murals of religious monuments, especially regarding the Imams and holy shrines, with emphasis on folk religious paintings are examined.
The research method is based on descriptive-analytical nature. The method of collecting information was library-based and fieldwork, and the method of qualitative analysis. The number of statistical population is 31 murals from 12 historical and religious monuments of Qajar Iran that have been selected from the holy shrines of Guilan province. The method of qualitative information analysis is content (textual) analysis. The mural of "Mukhtar Saghafi Revenge House" in the city of Langrud, Guilan, has been selected and studied as an example to examine the factors of the emergence of themes and components of importance with regard to a religious theme.
The results of the research show that folk murals are religious monuments, a national and spiritual heritage that have preserved many values, ​​and are tied to people's beliefs. For this reason, the most important factors that led to the emergence of religious themes are the need for a spiritual atmosphere, the belief in the propagation of Shiism, the emphasis on religious and cultural identity, attention to some popular religious beliefs and the shock of the ruling monarchy. What components did the mural artists of the religious monuments of the Qajar era use to show the subject? In choosing the subjects of these murals, there are components that are more important and include: the dimensions of the mural (size of the event), the field of view, the open space in front of the painting and the spiritual value (frequency). The relationship between the dimensions of the painting, the field of view and the open space in front of the painting has a spiritual value. Thus, the higher the spiritual importance and value of the subject of the painting, the image is designed in larger dimensions and has a wider field of view as well as a more open space for the audience (the pilgrims) to watch.
Findings indicate that the most significant components of the importance regarding the subject of these murals of religious monuments include: dimensions of the painting, field of view, open space in front of the painting and spiritual value, and religious issues are included in these five sections: folk beliefs, chronicles of Imams, icons, stories, and religious and symbolic motifs. All the components of the importance with regard to the subject and religious themes have been seen in the holy shrines of Guilan.