A Thematic and Pictorial Study on the Docile Lion Motif in the Presence of Men of God in Qajar Art

Humans have always been fascinated by animals. Animals usually provoke a strong reaction in people. Most mythologies feature animals in certain roles; some belief systems feature animals as guides, oracles, or totems representing certain qualities or certain characters. That is why animals have turned up as symbols in artistic media. The art of the ancient Near East includes some of the most vivid images of animals; the images of animals frequently appeared within compositions that evoked divinity, kingship, and the fertility of the natural world.
Both naturalistic and abstracted animal portrayals are found throughout the history of the ancient Middle East and the selection of a stylized or exaggerated form is best understood as the artisan’s wish to emphasize a particular desirable or representative quality of the animal.
Interest in wild animals and particularly in features like horns, wings, and claws that were considered especially dangerous or powerful is characteristic of ancient Middle Eastern art of all periods, dating back at least to the Neolithic period.
During the Uruk period, the lion and bull became especially prominent in the art of the ancient Near and Middle East and first began to be used in images expressing the power of rulers. Images of lions were also used in protective contexts, and were set up in pairs to guard passageways into royal and ritual spaces. Conflict between two or more powerful creatures is a recurring theme in ancient Eastern art. Fierce animals shown in combat were perhaps meant to embody strong opposing forces in nature.
Fierce animals, such as bulls and lions, as well as hawks, stags, and other powerful beasts, could be linked with certain gods whose qualities they shared. Horned headdresses were markers of divinity in the ancient Near East (a greater number of horns corresponded to a higher status in the world of the gods). However, the gods of the ancient Middle East did not commonly appear with animal features. Occasionally, gods appeared with wings and other birdlike elements, but they remained recognizably human. Thus, a depiction of a bull, for example, would be understood to refer to the storm god’s presence and powers, rather than to represent the god himself in animal form.
With privileged status and mystical powers, lion has constantly played a major role in human societies and different civilizations. The lion has been an important symbol to humans for tens of thousands of years. The earliest graphic representations feature lions as hunters with great strength, strategies, and skills. In later depictions of human cultural ceremonies, lions were often used symbolically and may have played significant roles in magic, as deities or in close association with deities, and served as intermediaries and clan identities.
In the Iranian culture and art, images of the animal were used in various forms and with different concepts, sometimes decoratively and symbolically, and other times politically. Religious purposes were another occasion for the appearance and application of lion motif in the Iranian culture; the most evident example of which would be the “Lion of God” as a metaphor for the first Shiite imam. Yet, another manifestation of lion in visual arts is the one related to the subjugation of the animal by the men of God, i.e. prophets, imams and mystics. This issue could be interpreted in the field of supernatural powers of such men and their inner control over physical phenomena, including wild animals.
In Qajar era, as the site for the representation and the time of the development of folk religious arts, we encounter various related works in which docile lion has been subdued by the men of religion and mysticism through such supernatural powers, and consequently has become a tame animal without any fierceness or voracity. Accordingly, the present essay aims at the examination and evaluation of this subject matter both in textual and pictorial resources through analytical-descriptive method. The main questions proposed would be: (1) What is the relationship or connection between textual resources on the issue of animals’ subjugation and their visual representation in arts? (2) Into what categories, according to textual and visual evidence, such representations would fall? (3) What are the sources/ origins of the representations? (4) In which art media such representations have been reflected? The results indicate that representation and illustration of the scenes related to bringing lion under control before holy men was based on religious and in some cases on literary texts. Such an act could be interpreted in the realm of supernatural deeds and as a mark of honor. Further, there is a direct connection between written sources and visual, artistic manifestations. The visual representation of the mentioned issue in this essay was principally categorized under seven groups or narratives, and is reflected in different art media, namely oil painting, wall painting, reverse glass painting, lacquer painting, tilework, manuscripts, watercolor and in some cases, textiles.