The Study of Placement System of Women’s Figures in Persian Painting (Book Illustrations and Single Leaves)

 
The system of placing the human body in the painting" was one of the topics raised in the structure of Persian painting, which deals with the arrangement and position of this visual element in the composition. In this topic, the woman’s figure can be noticeable as one of the human sexes, and the placement manner of her painting. This research aimed to investigate the woman's figure placement system in the painting as part of the painting's visual structure. The research questions were: 1. What changes have been made in the location of the woman’s figure in book illustrations and single leaves? 2. What factors have been effective in this transformation? This research was carried out through a descriptive-analytical method; the data collection was done through library research and direct observation of pictures, and has used qualitative analysis method.
The results of this study showed that there has been a change in the system of placing the woman’s figure from book illustrations to single leaves, and this evolution represents a bolder presence of the woman’s figure in the single leaves. In the book illustrations, the literary text was the determining factor of the presence and manner of the presence of the woman’s figure in the compositions. Therefore, according to the literary text or a part of the narrative that the image was depicting, the woman’s figure was depicted in four situations: "main figure", "complementary figure", "secondary figure" and "background or extra figure". The main woman’s figure was depicted according to the first character of the story who was the center of the story and the narrative structure and action of the story progressed based on her. This figure was depicted in the center of the composition or the energetic points of painting. The complementary woman’s figure was depicted according to the complementary character of the story who always played a role alongside the main character. This figure was depicted next to and in connection with the main character of the painting (generally the king or a nobleman) in the important points of the composition. The secondary woman’s figure was depicted according to the secondary character of the story, whose presence was merely to provide information about the story and the main character. This figure was depicted around the main character of the picture. The background or extra woman’s figure was depicted according to the extra characters of the story who did not have a serious and important role. This figure was depicted in the back scenes of the picture or the margins. Witnesses, women servants, singers, and dancers were included in this category. The group of women was generally depicted by the narrative, but sometimes there was gender segregation in the book illustration which was probably influenced by the social conditions of that period. This separation was done either visually through the horizontal and vertical elements of the architecture and the picture frame, or implicitly through the grouping and distance between the groups of women and men.
The woman’s figure did not have a serious presence in the early single leaves which generally depicted the male gender. Gradually the woman’s figure was popularized as a couple of lovers and single figures in the Safavid period. The centrifugal structure in the images of a couple of lovers presented the male and female figures to the same degree and visual importance. Also, the placement of both in the most emphasized points of the frame showed the equality of both sexes. The "Single figure of a woman" was considered the most important development in this field, the woman’s figure was the only visual element on the page, and her figure became the focal point of the work. This transformation and the bold and wide presence of women’s figures in single leaves, especially in the Isfahan school, were probably due to two parallel factors. The first factor was artistic and aesthetic and it was caused by a change in the type of art. Due to the non-use of the logic of the number of figures and the removal of miscellaneous figures in single leaves, more visual emphasis was put on the drawn women’s figures, whether it be or not. Also, the removal of other pictorial elements and the lack of connection between the background and the figures, made the figure seen well. The second factor was social, which was related to the artistic taste of the new patrons of art. Single leaves were freed from the task of illustrating literary texts and were influenced by the taste and wishes of patrons according to the conditions of the time. So, painters tried to satisfy the taste and desire of their patrons. The influence of their taste in single leaves, which was sometimes accompanied by hedonistic tendencies, became the basis for the different presence of women’s figures in single leaves.