Caricature is a distorted representation of a person or exaggerated way through artistic drawing. Caricature had always been expressionist, for the Caricaturist plays with likeness of his figure, and distorts it to express just what he feels about his fellow man. As long as these distortions of nature sailed under the flag of satire and humor nobody seemed to find them different to understand. Humorous art was a field in which everything was permitted, because people did not approach it with the prejudices, they reserved for art with a thing. In Persian art, Caricature can be insulting (Heja) or complimentary, and serve a social and political purpose.
Some of the earliest Caricature are found in the works of Kamal al-Din Bihzad master painter of Sultan Husayn Bayqara court. Contemporary Historians all speak with glowing praise about Bihzad‘s skill. Some compare and poet in Herat during the reign of Sultan Husayn Bayqara, has told many ascendancies at court of Sultan Husayn. He writes that Bihzad always took with him different illustrations on such occasions. Mostly he took poses. The said Amir had an unusual face and a strange figure. Bihzad with this illustration, such that as soon as Sultan Husayn cast his eye on it his
depression and unhappiness turned to delight. Can be told that these illustrations were Caricatures that delighted Sultan Husayn. Such accounts indicate two important facts. Firstly, Bihzad was capable of illustrating subjects naturalistically; secondly, his illustrations can simply be a form of Caricature and amusement. In which case, Bihzad was a pioneer of Caricature in the world.
A milestone in formally defining Caricature was Mir Seyyed Ali, Court in India. In his story, Caricature was formalized as the process of exaggerating differences from Ghazali (the poet) figure. This Caricature satirizing Ghazali’s figure with exaggerating pose. Beside the public-figure satire, many artists’ Caricature, used as gifts for a patron. Sultan Muhammad’s painting called as “allegory of drunkenness” was a Popular at street fairs often with humorous results. During Safavid period
we can explore a range of topics and techniques, from figure drawing to sketching animals, life of people as humorous entertainment and so on.
We discover different drawing style like comics, for example “man attacked By a Bear” by Reza Abbasi. In Safavid time, artists added the depiction of actual events to their repertoire of portraits. Riza Abbasi’s style had matured. His more insight for portraits from this Period is those of figures, such as” Nashmi Kamangar”. Riza in this figure Satirizing a political leader of Qizilbash. A remarkable series of drawings of Anguished men in the wilderness reflect the artist’s troubled state of mind and a reaction against the claustrophobic life of court. Qalandar darvish could, when in ecstatic mood, display deadly violence. Some of Qalandar darvish wandered in steppe or scene of cities in states of heroic self-mortification to achieve communion with universal spirit. Qalandar darvishes lived in cemeteries, even graves, as signs of self-annihilation. They during initiation only ate herbs and were clad in foliage (of the Fig-tree). They went bare foot, a feather expressively Shown in our painter’s works. These works like Caricature and humorous one. The shaven scalp and face of some of Muhammad Siyah Qalam as well as other representations rite of Qalandar darvishes. This article expresses Caricature and humor in Persian painting with this conclusion that Bihzad was one of pioneer Caricaturists in the world