A Comparative Study of Composition in Safavid Wall Paintings of Isfahan and Tehran Coffeehouse Painting Based on a Bourdieusian Analysis of Grid-Based Visual Syntax and Rhythmic Organization

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the possibility of identifying transferable compositional patterns based on grid-oriented visual syntax and rhythmic organization between Safavid wall paintings of Isfahan and Tehran coffeehouse painting through the Bourdieusian concepts of habitus and field. This qualitative and comparative study adopted a structural-analytical approach based on a three-stage research strategy including the establishment of an image database, expert-based structural coding, and controlled cross-case comparative analysis. The corpus consisted of Safavid mural paintings from Chehel Sotoun, Ali Qapu, and Hasht Behesht palaces, alongside selected examples of Tehran coffeehouse paintings collected through archival documentation, high-resolution visual records, and field surveys. Six experts in art history, restoration, visual culture, and performance traditions participated in a two-stage coding protocol using a unified analytical rubric. Variables such as axial organization, grid systems, modular segmentation, figural clustering, and rhythmic visual movement were systematically analyzed. Comparative matrices were then employed to identify structural homologies and functional analogies while accounting for documentation constraints including image cropping, digital compression, and tonal distortions. The findings demonstrated that several recurring operative clusters appeared across both visual fields, including axial stabilization, modular segmentation, registry-based organization, central anchoring, and density management through alternation between mass and void. However, the function of these operators shifted according to the viewing regime. In Safavid murals, architectural divisions and spatial bands directed large-scale visual navigation and reinforced ceremonial authority, whereas in coffeehouse paintings, diagonal vectors, episodic zoning, and performative density facilitated collective address and oral narrative guidance. The results further indicated that the persistence of compositional structures was not the outcome of direct stylistic imitation, but rather the product of transferable practical habitus and their field-dependent recoding within distinct systems of production and spectatorship. The study supports the existence of a controlled structural continuity between Safavid mural traditions and Tehran coffeehouse painting, in which compositional operators acquire new functions through field-specific recoding. Accordingly, grid and rhythm in Iranian visual culture should be understood not merely as stylistic attributes, but as embodied structural tendencies capable of generating diverse modes of visual organization across different historical contexts.