Studying the relationship between structure and theme in Manichaean paintings; a case example of two flags and two paper painting

Panjehbashi, Elaheh; Mohammadjani Divkolaei, Zeinab

doi:10.22034/chs.2024.202734

Studying the relationship between structure and theme in Manichaean paintings; a case example of two flags and two paper painting

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Elaheh Panjehbashi ¹ ^¶

zeinab mohammadjani divkolaei ² ^¶

¹ Master of Political Science, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran

² Master of Painting, Department of Painting, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/chs.2024.202734

Abstract

Manichaean paintings were designed and illustrated to show Manichaean religion and religious teachings. Almost all the works of Manichaeism, including wall paintings, paper paintings, flag paintings, and scroll paintings, are the same in structure and theme, and they were created to depict the supreme goal of this religion, which is the reaching of the human soul to a bright heaven and ultimately salvation. To show this goal, the Manichaean artist resorted to human figures and executed them with drawing principles and special composition that he had in mind for almost all the paintings. In fact, human figures played an essential role in showing the theme and forming the structure of paintings to the extent that other elements are very faint in Manichaean paintings and sometimes they don't exist at all. The purpose of this research is to investigate the theme and to understand the Manichaean artist's arrangements in creating the structure of paintings.
The main question of the research is, what are the themes of Manichaean paintings based on and what is the relationship between structure and theme? The approach of this research is descriptive and analytical and it has been done by using library sources and examining the existing samples. The method of analysis of the works is based on the examination of the visual principles and rules used in the external characteristics of the four Manichaean paintings. Based on the findings of the research, it can be said that the theme of most of Manichaean’s paintings is about light and the ways of liberating the soul from darkness and reaching heaven. The art of the Manichaean period has a coherent structural system, and the paintings have planning and division, and this page planning was done according to the theme, human roles, and the position of human roles in each picture.

Keywords

Manichean paintings

theme

structure

human figures

composition

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