in the building. It is entirely executed in tile mosaic in a full palette of seven colors (dark Persian blue, light Turkish blue, white, black, yellow, green and bisquit). A wide inscription band with religious texts written in white thuluth script on a dark blue ground frames the iwan. The tiles in the Masjed-e Shah are predominantly blue, except in the covered halls of the building, which were later revetted in tiles of cooler, yellowy-green shades. Facing northwards, the mosque's portal to the Maidan is usually under shadow but since it has been coated with radiant tile mosaics it glitters with a predominantly blue light of extraordinary intensity. The ornamentation of the structures is utterly traditional, as it recaptures the classic Iranian motifs of symbolic appeal for fruitfulness and effectiveness. Within the symmetrical arcades and the balanced iwans, one is drowned by the endless waves of intricate arabesque in golden yellow and dark blue, which bless the spectator with a space of internal serenity. Architects The architect of the mosque is Ali Akbar Isfahani. His name appears in an inscription in the mosque above the doorway of the entrance iwan complex. The inscription also mentions that the supervisor of the construction as Muhibb 'Ali Beg Lala who was also a major donor to the mosque. Another architect Badi al-zaman-i Tuni may have been involved in its early design. Measurements The port of the mosque measures high, crowned with two minarets tall. The Mosque is surrounded with four iwans and arcades. All the walls are ornamented with seven-color mosaic tile. The most magnificent iwan of the mosque is the one facing the Qibla measuring high. Behind this iwan is a space which is roofed with the largest dome in the city at height. The dome is double layered. The whole of the construction measures , with the central courtyard measuring . Photo gallery See also Chehel Sotoun Palace Safavid art History of Persian domes Notes References Mimaran-i Iran by Zohreh Bozorg-nia. 2004. Further reading Stephen P. Blake: Half the World. The Social Architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590–1722. Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Pub., 1999. Roger Savory: Iran Under the Safavids. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. A Journey to Persia. Jean Chardin's Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire; transl and ed. by R. W. Ferrier. New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1996. Michael Axworthy: A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind. New York: