Semiotics of Animal Motifs in the Jewelry of the Achaemenid Era

Achaemenid art is a combination of different nations' art and a reflection of thought and religion of the era. Plant, human, animal motifs and a combination of them have been used in the art of the Achaemenid era. But the abundant use of animal motifs, especially in jewelry, has distinguished the Achaemenid art. The present paper aims to study the animal symbols in the jewelry of the Achaemenid era. Following a definition of the symbol, it evaluates the role and status of animal symbols in Achaemenid jewelry by categorizing and analyzing those motifs. Descriptive-analytic method has been used in this paper and data has obtained from library research. According to the results of the study, it can be found that the symbolic animal motifs were used in the jewelry of the Achaemenid era to express the power and majesty of the king and the sovereignty; they demonstrate the Iranians' particular viewpoint toward the world, religion and custom of the era and artistic qualities of the related nations

Role of women painters in the restoration and preservation of miniature in contemporary painting in Iran (in the last four decades)

Despite the pervasiveness of modern visual arts principles, as well as diverse styles and techniques that are rapidly spreading in the world, Iranian painting (miniature) carries out both actual and potential visual and expressive functions. With the presence of female painters in the history of contemporary Iranian art, Iranian female painters, apart from the use of Western methods and techniques, have gained great success in using some of the visual techniques of this treasure in the contemporary Iranian painting.The current study aimed to collect and introduce these contemporary painters and assess and analyze their artworks by considering the presence of miniature in their artworks. The question is about the role of Iranian female painters in the restoration of the miniature in ontemporary painting in Iran and the miniature features they used to express new methods in contemporary painting.Despite all the influences of female artists in this field, there is a paucity of studies to introduce these artists and their executive procedures. Among these studies, we can refer to the thesis of "Elaheh Farahani" conducted in 2014 entitled "The Analytical Study of the works of the ancient and contemporary female painters, a case study of ten Iranian painters”. This study sought to introduce five miniaturists within the decades 10-11 AH and five contemporary miniaturists, including "Clara Abkar", "Mahin afshan pour", "Zinat Sadat Emami", "Farideh Tathiri Moghadam" and "Farah Osooli”.The next research is "The position of female artists in the history of Iranian Art” performed by "Marjan Edraki" in 2014, which only investigated the social conditions and the emergence of female painters, especially after the Islamic Revolution Iran