Hypertextual Study of "Seated Painter" Painting by Kamal al-din Bihzad (Freer Gallery, 32.28) Copying from Gentile Bellini's Work "Seated Scribe" (Gardner, P15e8)

Duplication in the tradition of Persian painting, which was mostly created for educational and skill-learning purposes, could be one of the best examples of Genette's hypertextual relationship. Also, one of the most significant examples in this field was the painting "Seated Painter" in 892 AH /1487 AD. (Freer Gallery of Art 32.28) by Kamal al-din Bihzad, which was a sketch of Bellini's work "Seated Scribe" in 886 AH/ 1481 AD. (Gardner Museum P15e8). On the other hand, hypertextuality was one of the types of transtextuality in Gerard Genet's system, which emphasizes the derivation and overlapping of works from each other. In this type of relationship, attention was not paid to the partial inspiration and influence, but to the overall influence of one text on the other one. Based on Gentet’s theory, the aim of this study was to know how a non-Persian hypotext (Turkish-European) was related to a Persian hyper-text. And it is atempted to answer these questions: Behzad's copy of Bellini's painting belongs to which type of hypertextuality? What changes were made in the copying process in Behzad's painting?
This study is developmental research and has been carried out by the descriptive-analytical method. The research samples included two works, "Seated Painter" by Bihzad, and another "Seated Scribe" by Bellini, which has been considered hypertext and hypotext respectively. The method of selecting samples is "non-random" and purposeful and the observation is desk-based. The method of qualitative data analysis was Genet's hypertextual approach.
The results showed that Bihzad's duplication of Bellini's painting was in the "transposition" category (Changes with a serious function) based on Genet's typology of hypertextuality. The changes made in the hypertext included formal changes, thematic changes, compositional changes, and color and light changes. In Bihzad's design of a non-Persian work and in the process of creating hypertext, due to the difference in cultural, artistic, and social background, the pre-text had changed and Bihzad did not just do it imitatively. The changes made in Bihzad's painting, in addition to creating a new and independent work, also created a hypertext related to Persian art and society. In some parts of the painting, Bihzad mentioned the cultural-artistic and social characteristics of his society, for example, the lack of attention to naturalism in the design of the figure's hands and face, or the lack of use of light-dark (chiaroscuro), which shows Bihzad's loyalty to the aesthetic system of Persian painting. Also, the color of the figures' clothes and the motifs used in them were directly related to the background and social context of Ottoman Turkey and Iran. As Mikhail Bakhtin considers transtextual relations, especially cultural and social relations, as a type of text in which the artist creates his work with them; Therefore, there is a logical connection between the artist's text and his society.