Posted by Steve Price on April 02, 1999 at 08:35:24:
Dear Friends,
The khorjin face illustrated in the article is nearly identical to one illustrated in Tanavoli's SHAHSAVAN. In his description of it, Tanavoli presents his interpretation of the iconography. Since motif interpretation comes up fairly often on TurkoTek, and Tanavoli is about as authoritative on Persian art as people get to be, I thought his ideas on this might be of interest.
He believes that the central part of the bagface represents the heavens, with stars in the field and radiating lines representing heat and light around it. The blue region around it represents the earth, the animals being the inhabitants receiving the light and warmth of the heavens.
If the source was less of an authority than Tanavoli himself, I would be inclined to dismiss the interpretation as fanciful. Given the source, I am simply skeptical but attentive.
Regards,
Steve Price