A comparative study of warning and evangelism in Islamic and Christian paintings on the subject of the biography of Prophet Yunus belonging to the 13th to 16th centuries AD, based on Panofsky's views

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD of Comparative and Analytic History of Islamic Art, Lecturer in the Faculty of Art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Art, Faculty of Art Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Warning and evangelism are two tools in inviting and guiding human beings that are mentioned in the holy books. Sometimes these concepts are quoted in the form of the stories of tribes and prophets such as the story of the prophet Jonah mentioned in the Qur'an and the Bible with some differences in the narration. Jonah is regarded in Christianity as the proof of the capacity of the gentiles for salvation and the design of God to make them partake of it. In the same passage he is referred to, as are many of the prophets, as a forerunner of Jesus.  Similarly the three days and three nights which he spent in the whale's belly are seen as a prefiguration of the three days and three nights he would be "in the heart of the earth. In Islam Yūnus (Jonah) the prophet was one of the most prominent descendants of Abraham. He was one of the apostles of Allah, even though he fled from his mission because he thought that Allah did not control him . His fate, however, designated him for destruction. Had he not praised Allah, he would have remained in the belly of the fish until the day of the resurrection of the dead. The myriads who were warned by Jonah believed in Allah and continued to enjoy His mercies for a time.  The story of Jonah was a favorite subject in Islamic legend; several motifs worthy of adaptation are found in it. In Islamic and Christian miniatures the story is a current subject.  In these paintings, a part of the narrative is highlighted; Most of the Islamic paintings depict the final part of the narration and most of the Christian paintings depict the initial part. This study aims to better understand Islamic and Christian paintings on the subject of the story of Younes related to medieval periods, based on iconographic views of Ervin Panofsky with descriptive-analytical method and comparative approach. Panofsky established a layered or step-by-step method that was slow and deliberate, requiring an extensive education on not just the work of art but also of its culture of origin. If, for the linguist Saussure, words were signs that were signifiers for the thing signified, than for Panofsky, the work of art could be understood as a visual language in terms of the sign, signifier and the signified or icon, iconography, and iconology. Panofsky continued his opposition to formalism by stating that the “pre-iconographical description” was a “pseudo-formal analysis,” but that this first take was a “practical experience” that was “controlled” by the history of style. Moving up from the bottom to the next layer or level of meaning, Panofsky introduced the “secondary” or “iconographical analysis” that required “knowledge of literary sources that concerned historical themes or concepts.” What are the similarities and differences between Islamic and Christian paintings in relation to the concept of warning and evangelism? What is the reason for the emphasis of Islamic and Christian paintings on a particular part of the story of Jonah? are the research`s questions.

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References

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Journal of Fine Arts: Visual Arts
Volume 27, Issue 4
November 2022
Pages 131-140

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