Folklorism in Litographs of Noush Afarin GoharTaj

Folk tales were made popular among people in Qajar era. The advent of lithography in this period contributed greatly to the dissemination and expansion of these stories, especially the illustrated lithographs that made stories more visually appealing to people. The story of the Noosh Afarin GoharTaj is a proverbial folk tale from the Qajar period which depicts Prince Abraham's love, King of China's son, for Prince GoharTaj who is the Prince of Damascus. The author and timing of this folk tale are unknown. However, numerous lithographs of GoharTaj's story show its popularity. Given the importance of this story for the public, the present study examines one of the most important lithographs of this story, the first one, dated back to 1847 and kept at the Lynch National Academy in Rome. This edition is illustrated by two illustrations by the most prominent illustrator of lithography books, Mirza Ali Gholi Khoi in 57 paintings. This study examines the popular story and the importance of lithography in promoting this story. The main part of the article is devoted to analyzing the illustrations of this edition from the perspective of iconography, demonstrating imaginary and mythical creatures, and drawing scenes of martial arts and martyrdom. The results of the research show that the illustrator has been trying to portray the paintings in a way that is popular and appropriate to the needs of his age.