부산대학교 도서관

[Masjid-i Sheikh Luṭfallah](Isfahan) Mosque in Isfahan, Iran. This building lies on the maidan facing the ‛Ali Qapu Palace audience chamber (see fig.). The mosque was ordered in 1603 by ‛Abbas I, who entrusted its building and decoration to Muhammad Riza ‛Abbasi. Work was finished in 1619, according to the inscription on its beautiful mihrab. The building was originally called the Mosque of the Pontiff (Pers. Masjid-i ṣadr) and was entrusted to the theologian Shaykh Lutfallah, who had accompanied the Shah to Isfahan to preach Shi‛ite doctrine. Although less famous than the nearby Shah Mosque, the building is distinguished as the only Safavid mosque to diverge from the established norm. It comprises a single domed prayer-hall (interior diam. 19 m) with simple service areas and without any external court, side galleries or minarets. Its spare space is comparable to that of the single-domed mosques built under the Ottomans (see Islamic art, §II, 7(i)...