ART OF ISLAM

CLASS1 PART 2

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES ON ISLAMIC ARTS

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

• SURROUNDED BY REMNANTS OF GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION.

• CANABALIZED MATERIALS FOR ISLAMIC BUILDINGS.

• ADOPTED SOME MOTIFS AND TECHNIQUES

ROMAN PANTHEON AND DOME OF THE ROCK

BYZANTINE AND SASSANIANS• TWO GREAT EMPIRES IN NEAR EAST AT TIME OF

FOUNDING OF ISLAM. ENGAGED IN LONG-TERM WAR AND RIVALRY.

• BYZANTIUM WAS EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE AND CONTINUATION OF CLASSCAL ROME. ENDED IN 1453 WITH FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

• SASSANIAN EMPIRE COVERED PARTS OF TODAY’S TURKEY, IRAN AFGHANISTAN FROM 224-651CE. DEFEATED AND ABSORBED INTO CALIPHATE.

WHICH IS BYZANTINE?

THE SIX GREAT THEMES COMMON TO MOST ISLAMIC ARTS

FOUR FROM NATURE TWO FROM HUMANITY

• THE FOUR THEMES FROM NATURE ARE: INFINITY, NIGHT, THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER/WATER.

• THE TWO THEMES FROM HUMANITY ARE: THE BELOVED AND THE GARDEN.

• THE THEMES CAN BE FOUND IN MUSIC, LITERATURE, ARCHITECTURE, DECORATIVE ARTS, ETC.

• THEY EXIST ACROSS TIME AND CULTURES.

INFINITY• I sent my Soul through the Invisible, • Some letter of that After-life to spell.• And ay my soul returned to me’• Saying I myself am Heaven and Hell

Omar Khayyam Persia• The vastness and emptiness of the

landscape created a sense of endlessness.

• The ability of caravans to travel in this landscape contributed.

• Repeating designs and motifs are representative of infinity. Arabesque is a term applied to some of these designs.

Night• NIGHT IN MANY PARTS OF

ISLAMIC WORLD IS MOST ACTIVE TIME OF DAY.

• NIGHT SKY GIVES DEFINITION TO THE INFINITY OF LANDSCAPE.

• MUSIC AND POETRY 2 ARTS FORMS MOST COMMONLY CELEBRATING NIGHT.

• LEILA OR VARIATION MOST COMMON WOMEN’S NAME IN ARABIC SPEAKING NATIONS.

THE BELOVED• BELOVED IS CELEBRATED IN MOST

ART FORMS BUT ESPECIALLY IN LITERATURE AND MINATURE PAINTING.

• MYSTICS OFTEN BLUR LINE BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND DIVINE WHEN SPEAKING OF BELOVED.

• LONGING IS COMMON CHARACTERISTIC OF RELATIONSHIP WITH BELOVED PERHAPS DUE SEPARATION OF MEN AND WOMEN AFTER CHILDHOOD AND ARRANGED MARRAIGES.

THE MOUNTAIN

• IN LANSCAPE THE MOUNTAIN REPRESENTS A GOAL TO BE ACHIEVED. SAME IN ARTS.

• RECALLS HIGH PLACES WHERE GOD WAS WORSHIPED, ESPECIALLY IN ARCHICTECTURE.

WATER/THE RIVER• SYMBOL OF LIFE AND

SUSTENANCE IN ALL ART FORMS.

• SMOOTH SURFACES OF GLASS AND CERAMICS ONE MIMIC OF WATER’S CHARACTERISTICS.

• BLUE TONES USED IN MANY TYPICAL VISUAL ART FORMS REFLECTION OF THIS.

• WORDS AZURE AND TURQUOISE COME FROM ISLAMIC USE OF BLUES.

THE GARDEN• “PARADISE” COMES FROM

PERSIAN WORD FOR GARDEN.

• GARDENS ARE A PREVIEW OF THE WORLD TO COME.

• CREATED BY HUMAN INTENTION JUST AS HUMAN FATE IS DETERMINED BY INDIVIDUAL INTENTION.

THE ROLE OF HOSPITALITY IN THE JUST AND EQUITABLE SOCIETY

EVERY GUEST IS A GIFT FROM GOD• GEOGRAPHY , TRADE AND

PILGRIMAGE CREATED NEED FOR HOSPITALITY.

• BOTH RELIGION AND CULTURES OF ISLAMIC WORLD SUPPORTED NEED.

• SHARING WHAT ONE HAS WITH STRANGER BECAME MARK OF PIOUSNESS.

“WELCOME TO YOUR HOME”• HOSPITALITY IS GENUINE.• ESTABLISHS MUTUAL

RELATIONSHIPS AND OBLIGATIONS WHICH TRANSFER ACROSS TIME AND PLACE.

• PROVIDES FOR SAFTEY AND PREDICTABILITY DURING TRAVEL.

• REINFORCES IDEA OF GREATER ISLAMIC COMMUNMITY. HOSPITALITY NOT LIMITED TO MUSLIMS