The donation was made on Tuesday as part of the birthday celebration of the eighth Imam of the Shia.
Musa Hosseini Kashani, as a representative of the foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, attended the donation ceremony, the foundation announced in a press release.
“One of the ministry’s plans is to use art to disseminate Islamic teachings around society,” Hosseini Kashani said.
“There are many artists creating artworks on Islamic subjects, and the foundation has invited some of them to produce works on famous hadiths from Imam Reza (AS),” he added.
One of the artists is Hassan Ruholamin, who has drawn “Condition of Tawheed” based on the Hadith of Silsilah al-Dhahab (The Hadith of the Golden Chain).
The 2 X 3.6-meter oil painting was made public during a special ceremony at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Culture in Tehran on May 12.
The artwork depicts the story of the Hadith of the Golden Chain narrated by Imam Reza (AS) upon his arrival at the northeastern Iranian town of Neyshabur.
The hadith refers to the continuity of spiritual authority that is passed down from the Prophet Muhammad (S) to Imam Ali (AS), the first Imam of the Shia, through each of the successive Imams to Imam Reza (AS).
This painting has been commissioned by the Imam Reza (AS) International Foundation for Culture and Arts based on a contract with Ruholamin. Four other paintings about the life of the Imam will be created under this contract.
“I have tried to use colors and the figures common in Iranian paintings to create this work,” Ruholamin said at the unveiling ceremony, which was also attended by Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi.
In his brief speech, Salehi said, “This tableau takes us into history and represents a spiritual and individual dimension of our ties with the Ahlul Beit (AS).”
Source: Iran Daily