Color Symbolism in Medieval and Safavid Manuscripts and in Islamic Aesthetics: A Historical and Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The inquisitive nature of mankind is always looking for ways to explore things of its interest. It is interesting to write about art, architecture and artefacts but without consulting about color; the study remains incomplete.  Color symbolism in manuscripts has always been a rich source of studying diverse cultural and religious history. In the art of manuscripts, colors were not solely used to create an ideal reality but also gave meaning to the illustrations. Color symbolism is an essential part in every religious as well as secular art but the meaning and symbology may not be similar. The aim of this research paper is to draw attention to the color symbolism of Christian Medieval period and ‘Safavid’ Period manuscripts. The study provides that the metaphorical use of colors, their similarities, comparisons and expressionist style having different impacts in two diverse art works belong to mystical, religious and emerging time periods. Moreover, the paper is based on hermeneutic exploratory and descriptive research using the technique of innate expressionism.