Retrieval of Identity Layers in Persian Illustrated Lithographed Manuscripts with Religious Themes of the Qajar Era

This paper aims to scrutinize the identity layers in artworks of the Qajar era. Identity in art has different layers and each layer depends on different aspects. the Qajar Era is one of the culturally productive periods in Iran. It also had widespread relations with the West in different matters. Thus several identity layers in the culture and artworks can be seen in this period. The research tries to answer this question: what are the identity layers and their priorities found in the Lithographed Manuscripts with religious themes in the Qajar Era? The analysis of 10 manuscripts with various dates shows that there are four identity layers: archaism, Persian-Islamic, Western-style and Islamic-Shi? tendency in artworks of the Qajar Era and each type of artwork, some layers have more importance.