Download - Lecture, Islamic Art & Architecture
Islamic
Art &Architecture
Iconoclasm – the destruction of images; also the period from 726 to 843 CE when there was an imperial ban on images in the Western world
Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George, icon, sixth or early seventh century
Mihrab from the Madrasa Imami, ca. 1354. Fig. 5-11.
The Fear of Images
From South Park on ComedyCentral
Cartoon by Annette Carlsen,2005, published in Jyllands-PostenDenmark
Islamic Art & Architecture
Dates and Places: • 7th century to present• Mecca, Medina
(west coast of Arabia)• Middle East, Spain, North
AfricaPeople:• Muslim followers of
Prophet Muhammad• Rapid expansion of empire• Ummayads & Abbasids• Communal & private
worship (facing direction of Mecca)
• Imams (religious leaders)
Themes:• Restrictions on holy images • Geometric pattern, vegetal
design• Calligraphic passages from
KoranForms:• Non-illusionistic • Repetition of design• Rich colors, materials• The word as symbolic motif• Tile work, mosaic, stucco
Malwiya minaret, Great Mosque, Samarra, Iraq, 848–852.
Islamic Art & Architecture
Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 687–692.
Architecture• Example of convergence
of three religions (site sacred to Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
• Syncretism (Central basilica plan, columns, colonnade)
• Believed to site where prophet Mohamed ascended to heaven
• Dome (wooden) has octagonal shape based on 8-point star, 75’ high, 60’ diameter
• Exterior tile work (not original) like textile
• Lavish interior mosiac symbolizing heaven
San Vitale, Italy526–547Christian
Pantheon, Rome, 2nd century CE
Architecture -Dome of the Rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX6CCN8qyyk&feature=related
Architecture
View and plan, Great Mosque, Kairouan, Tunisia, Africa, ca. 836–875. Fig. 5-4.
Architecture• Mosque for collective prayer • Muhammad’s house as model• Hypostyle hall (communal worship,
qibla wall (facing Mecca), mihrab (niche), domes, nave (central aisle), minaret (tower to call to worship & mark location)
• Maqsura for ruler• Plain exterior, lavish interior
View and plan, Great Mosque, Kairouan,Tunisia,
ca. 836–875. Fig. 5-4.
Apollodorus of Damascus, Forum of Trajan, 112CERoman
Architecture
Prayer hall, Great Mosque, Córdoba, Spain, 8th to 10th centuries. Fig. 5-6.
Architecture• Spanish Ummayad
Dynasty (Muslim ruler lower Spain)
• Hypostyle hall • Double-tiered arches add
height• Columns from earlier
structure• Horseshoe arch, maybe
Visigoth or Near Eastern• Lavish mosaics and stucco
Prayer hall, Great Mosque, Córdoba, Spain, 8th to 10th centuries.
Fig. 5-6.
Architecture
Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1354–1391. Fig.
5-8.
Architecture• Palace of the caliph (successor of
Muhammad) in Spain • Image of Paradise• Multilobed pointed arches• Ornamental stucco decoration
ceilings (dome of Heaven)• Muquarnas (stalactite-like prismatic
forms) suggest starry sky• Gardens, fountain• Ornament of calligraphy (verses
from court poet) and patterns
Court of the Lions, Alhambra, 1354–1391. Fig. 5-8.
Architecture
Hall of the Two SistersPalace of the Lions
Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1354–1391.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEseJViidy8
Rick Steves on the Alhambra
Architecture
View, Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th to 17th centuries. Fig. 5-6.
Architecture• Iranian mosque type • Courtyard with two-
story arcade• Four iwans (vaulted
recess in wall)• Qibla iwan is largest• Dome before the
mihrab
View, Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th to 17th centuries. Fig. 5-6.
Mihrab from the Madrasa Imami, ca. 1354. Fig. 5-11.
Architecture
• Mihrab from madrasa (religious school) in Isfahan
• Mosaic tile ornamentation • Repeating vegetal &
geometric motifs• Symmetry• Calligraphy from Koran (Kufic
(early stately script) in center & Muhaqqaq (cursive) in exterior frame)
• Lacks figural representation of holy figures
Mihrab from the Madrasa Imami, ca. 1354. Fig. 5-11.
Architecture
Luxury Arts
Koran page, 9th or early 10th century. Fig. 5-12.
Luxury Arts• Principle text of Islam • Kufic script (stately, associated
with Kufa, center of Arabic calligraphy)
• Integration of text and ornament (ink & gold)
• Written from right to left (“On the Day of Judgment, the faith of those who shall have disbelieved shall not avail them. ” (from The Visual Arts: A History, p. 351))
• Consonants with vowels indicated by red or yellow symbols
• Palm tree finial on far right (decorative ornament
• Lacks figural representation
Koran page, 9th or early 10th century. Fig. 5-12.
Initial R, Moralia in Job, ca. 1115–1125, French
Luxury Arts
Bihzad, Seduction of Yusuf, folio 52 verso, Bustan (Orchard) of Sultan Husayn
MayqaraAfghanistan, 1488
ink and color on paper, 117/8” x 85/8”
Luxury Arts
Bihzad, Seduction of Yusuf, folio 52 verso Afghanistan, 1488
• Herat, Afghanistan center of luxurious book production
• Secular art forms allow representational imagery
• Narratives with human and animal forms
• Bihzad most famous Persian painter• Common Christian and Islamic story
by Sadi (“Seduction of Joseph”)• Zulaykha (seducer) lured Joseph
through 7 rooms locking each behind, doors opened miraculously and he was freed)
• Text interspersed throughout image in beige panels
• Decorative merging of suggested textiles and tiled walls (2D & 3D)
http://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/episode-spirituality
Shahzia Sikander, Art 21, scroll 32 min
Luxury Arts
MAQSUD OF KASHAN, carpet, funerary mosque of Shaykh Safi
al-Din, 1540. Fig. 5-14.
Luxury Arts• Rug in funerary mosque• Rugs replace wood furniture,
create functional multi-purpose rooms
• Wool carpet by master designer at Safavid court (25 million knots)
• Heavenly dome design (medallion in center) with water and lotus blossoms
• Lanterns in design (unequal in size to adjust for perspective)
• Image of paradise as a garden
MAQSUD OF KASHAN, carpet, funerary mosque of Shaykh Safi
al-Din, 1540., 35’x18’, Fig. 5-14.http://www.artbabble.org/video/lacma/magnificent-11
From Magnificent 11, Victoria & Albert Museum, Londongo to 13 minutes