A review session of the book "Color and Meaning in Achaemenid Art" was held at the Writers' House with the presence of author Alexander Nagel, Dr. Kourosh Mohammadkhani, and Noshad Rokni.

A review session of the book "Color and Meaning in Persian Achaemenid Art" by Alexander Nagel was held on Monday, March 26, 1403, in the presence of the book's author, Kourosh Mohammadkhani, and Noshad Rokni at the Writers' House.

Alexander Nagel said;
I have been working on the subject of color in Achaemenid art for more than twenty years
The author of the book “Color and Meaning in Persian Achaemenid Art” said: With the help of a microscope, I was able to trace the main pigments in the buildings of the Achaemenid period. I have been researching this subject for more than twenty years.

A review session of the book “Color and Meaning in Persian Achaemenid Art” by Alexander Nagel was held on Monday, March 26, 1403, in the presence of the author of the book, Kourosh Mohammadkhani and Noshad Rokni, at Sarai Ahl Qalam.

Alexander Nagel said at this meeting: The book “Color and Meaning in Persian Achaemenid Art” was published by Cambridge University in 2023. This book is about pigments in Persepolis. I have been researching this field for more than 20 years.

He added: "I used a microscope to find and trace the original pigments in these ancient stone buildings. This book is essentially my doctoral thesis that I defended at the University of Michigan."

Nagel continued: "In this research project, we found blue, red, and gold. In some parts, the pigments were so close together that they seemed to be overlapping. After examining these pigments, I realized that some of these pigments were made of copper."

The archaeologist and art historian also pointed out some important historical points about pigments, saying: "In the field of pigments, manuscripts can help our research. Also, from the existing tablets, we can find out in which countries or territories each of these pigments was produced. For example, we found that lapis lazuli was brought to Persepolis from Afghanistan for these works.

Nagel also pointed out other uses of pigments and continued: Pigments were not only used for buildings like Persepolis, but were also used in coloring clothes.

Neglecting the Influence of Color from Nature in Artistic Research

In another part of this meeting, Noshad Rokni said about Alexander Nagel and his research: Nagel came to Iran in July 2007 to conduct closer research on Achaemenid art. When he returned, he had found 600 colored dots in Persepolis. Nagel continued his research the following year and made surprising findings.

This manuscript expert and researcher in the fields of art and architecture continued: Most of my work has been on manuscripts and I have dealt with pigments a lot. Working with manuscripts has taught me interesting things. These manuscripts have given me a lot of information about different worldviews. Of course, it should be noted that the mystical view has cast a shadow over these analyses more than anything else. In fact, the scientific and laboratory view has received less attention and mystical interpretations have taken the lead. Now we must act in reverse engineering in this regard.

Rukni continued by pointing out some neglected points in the field of historical research on the subject of Iranian art and architecture and said: In our research, the influence of color from nature has been neglected. This point is also important because usually those who look at our culture and thought from the outside can examine it much more comprehensively, and the importance of the book "Color and Meaning in Persian Achaemenid Art" by Alexander Nagel is precisely for this reason.

He also pointed out that the attribution of blue to water is a product of the contemporary era, and continued: Before this era, we did not have blue and used azure. It is stated in the history of our literature that we painted the sea and the sky green.

Rokni also pointed out the importance of the phenomenon of recognizing colors in examining the remains and said: "In general, one of the methods of recognizing forgery is the same expert examination of pigments to see if it is lapis lazuli or not. In fact, before the Safavid era, lapis lazuli was abundant, but after the Safavid era and the severance of ties with the mines, what we have as lapis lazuli, although it is lapis lazuli, is not actually lapis lazuli."

In this meeting, Cyrus Mohammadkhani also shared his memories of his research period with Alexander Nagel in Persepolis and said about the book "Color and Meaning in Achaemenid Art": Identifying colors in Pasargadae and its surroundings is a very valuable work. In this book, Nagel wrote about the origin of the colors in Persepolis and reconstructed them.

He added: "Colored plasterwork has been seen in some palaces, and the same colors are also seen in Persepolis." Unfortunately, the phenomenon of erosion destroyed these pigments very quickly.