Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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Murals are the main, media of human culture and civilization and the place and its long history in Iranian art is clear. There are specific forms of mural paintings in some Iranian architecture that are different from other usual wall paintings in materials, methods as well as implementation techniques. Unfortunately, these mural paintings are not studied certainly until now. Therefore, further investigation is needed due to the importance of this issue.

In the scientific literature, different definitions of this kind of murals which provided examples of them pointed out: Canvas murals, Oil-on-canvas mural, Marouflage wall painting,  Marouflaged canvasmural, Oil painting on canvas onto walls, Marouflaged Canvas, Textile wall hangings, Canvas painting adhered to the wall surface, The painting had been adhered to the ceiling by Marouflage, Mural painting on canvas, Used a canvas set in to the wall, Oil on maroufle canvas for mural painting, Fabric-based murals, Ceiling canvases, Painting Hung on the wall, Wall Cover, Oil on Canvas attach on wall, Oil on Canvas mounted on wall.

In Europe during the 17^th century there was a movement away from painting on solid supports towards more portable painting techniques, giving rise to the easel painting tradition. Particularly in France, traditional fresco painting techniques were replaced by mural painting techniques similar to those used in easel painting. This new mural painting technique involved the use of textile supports that the artist could work on in their studio instead of on high scaffolding in large public places1. Marouflage is the term often used to describe this mural painting process, which involves attaching a large-scale painting on canvas to a solid substrate. The solid substrate is often architectural, such as a wall or ceiling. The complete canvas murals were often hung by specialized mural hangers, not the artist themselves. Experienced hangers developed techniques with adhesive properties that were able to bond, two materials which have widely varying properties, such as degree of expansion and contraction, porosity, etc. Ideally a marouflage adhesive needs the following characteristics: a viscous paste that is easy to apply, a slow to medium setting time, high initial tack and bond strength. Using a thick paste prevents dripping and unwanted mess during application. A high initial tack prevents the mural from falling during installation and slower setting times allow substantial working time so that the large murals can be properly positioned.

Regarding to importance of necessity of art understanding before conservation, it is obvious that common conservation procedures on these relics (without appropriate understanding) have an inappropriate results on authenticity and integrity of the relics. Unfortunately, there is not adequate research about technology and conservation of these relics and related fields.  The aim of this research is the identification of history of development, and used materials and techniques in these historic paintings by field and literature investigations. Technological understanding of this kind of murals during the time by application of literature review and data explanation. Due to low information in Persian, European Marouflaged canvasmural has been studied more than Iranian relics. The research subject and case studies are studied in a qualitative and descriptive research method and the subject is considered with ten historical and theoretical aspects. These paintings are executed on the layer of cloth (canvas) and then installed on the wall that is known as a part of the architecture arrays. This research at the first library study is conducted and then according to the results, the field studies are carried out and finally, the data are analyzed. Knowing the number of Marouflage according to literature review, the identification of constituent layers of Marouflage according to field studies, and Understanding the differences between a common wall Paintings and Textile Marouflage in Iran, are the results of this paper. In architectural conservation in Iran there is a perspective called Iranian-Islamic whose meaning is the influence of Islamic belief and thought upon tradition of conservation architectural works during Islamic era of Iran.

In this paper, the process of formation of this type of wall painting in Iran was studied and present examples of this method in Iranian architecture are introduced and explained. Some of the architectural interior surfaces are decorated by the textile painting by Marouflaged in Ilkhanid, Safavid and Quajarperiod; funerary monuments with polygonal plan have the most decorative surfaces such as Soltanieh Dome, Sheykh Safi mausoleum, Maryam church, Golestan palace and etc. According to studies, there was technical change in manufacturing process of large wall paintings and ceiling paintings at Renaissance period. It resulted to production of new kind of murals which known as Marouflaged canvasmural. The research obtained appropriate results about production, manufacturing, historical samples and effect of technological problems on conservation of Marouflaged canvasmural.

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Introduction: The plant decorations are considered as the most obvious designs that are used elaborately in different works of art. They are also used frequently in architectural decoration, particularly the ones made of stucco. The way these plant ornaments are composed characterizes the period in which they were created though many of these compositions have been repeated frequently over centuries. The goal of this research is to study the typology and classify the significant plant compositions in the stucco decorations from the Islamic period to the fourteenth century. In order to achieve this goal, the following questions should be answered:

• What are the most popular plant compositions in the stucco decorations from the Islamic period to the fourteenth century?
• Which compositions can be considered as the significant features of plant ornaments in a certain period?

Conclusion: The data was collected based upon written sources and field research (photography, linear print of the images) and analyzed through comparative-historical method. The results of this study suggest that the compositions existing in the samples can be classified into 9 groups some of which have been repeated in all historical periods, like the two and three-arabesque compositions in the margins and delicate joint/ stems with snail-shaped arches. But some of these compositions, including multi-layered plant compositions, delicate plant stems in the backgrounds, snail-shaped arches, etc., were evolved in some centuries, i.e. 13th and 14th centuries, or used more frequently. 

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With the arrival of Islam in Iran, the knowledge that had a strong connection with religion flourished in this land. Although in later periods schools were established independently from mosques, because of the religious studies in schools, the connection between mosques and schools was recreated again and they were called mosque-school in Islamic architecture. The integration of the two functions of mosque and school led to spatial innovations and creativity in the architecture of these buildings. Therefore, the architecture of these buildings had quite a special importance in the history of Islamic architecture. This article is based on the assumption that the body of Iranian schools from the Seljuk period to the Qajar period has evolved; It seeks to find the structural characteristics of Iranian schools in each historical period and also the evolution of their spatial arrangement by examining the models. For a better understanding and more specific analysis, the evolution of the spatial arrangement, typology of the structural system, and the relationship of traditional schools were conducted for the mentioned schools. This typology includes topics like structural system, spatial layout, structural communications, how to connect educational and worshiping (prayer) areas, methods of defining space (closed, open, and covered). The data were initially presented using a descriptive method and then they were evaluated through an analytical and adaptive method, and in terms of historical-interpretive approach, it was accomplished with typological analysis method and using library sources, collecting data from historical books, mapping, documents and receipts reading.
Study results show that schools in each historical period in order to meet the needs of students, have found specific structural characteristics and this has led to spatial changes, including residential, educational, and worshipping areas. For example, the porches of traditional schools initially had an educational function, and students gathered on the porches to discuss. In some cases, they also had been used for praying purpose. As a result, according to the present study and the case studies, the body of traditional schools in terms of the characteristics of the main components (porch, dorm, madrasa, etc.) and spatial arrangement, have passed evolutionary developments during the Seljuk period, Timurids, Safavids, Qajar.