The Art of Islam

Do Now:

What are the five most important

works of the early Middle Ages?

What is the most important? Why?

discuss

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• What are the important elements of Islamic art and architecture?

• How are the ideas and culture of Islam reflected in its art?

• What are the differences between Islam and Christianity?

• How is the art of early Islam different from western art of this period?

VOCABULARY

arabesque, calligraphy, Koran, Mecca, Medina, mihrab, minaret, minbar,

mosque, Mohammed, muqarnas, qiblah, tessellation, pendentive, squinch

The Islamic World – 8th century C.E. Umayyad Caliphate

Dome of the Rock

Jerusalem

687 - 692

• What type of Christian church does the Dome of the Rock

look like? Give an example.

• What is the importance of this structure?

• How are the mosaics similar to and different other mosaic

work from that period?

San Vitale

Dome of the Rock, interior

• What influence might you suspect from looking at this interior?

Frieze of the

Umayyad palace,

Mshatta, Jordan

ca. 740-750

• Describe this frieze.

• How does this design reflect Islamic

art ideals?

Great Mosque Dome,

Cordova, Spain

961-965

• How is this similar to

and different from

earlier arches we have

studied?

• What support system

does this dome use?

• What architecture does this look like?

Hall of the Two Sisters Dome

Granada, Spain

1354 - 1391

• Describe this structure

using architectural terms.

muqarnas

Mosque of Selim II,

Edirne, Turkey

1568 -1575 CE

• What structure inspired

this mosque?

• How is the structure

and its dome supported?

• Describe the interior of

the dome.

Hagia Sophia - Byzantine

Mihrab from Imami Madrasa

Isfahan, Iran

ca. 1354

• How is calligraphy and arabesques

used in this mihrab?

• What other Islamic art form does this

invoke?

• What is the function of a mihrab?

Determining the direction of the Qiblah was

a central issue and a constant generator of

a scientific environment during the Islamic

Golden Age, one that required both

mathematics and observation.

arabesque

qiblah

Sultan-Muhammed,

The Court of Gayumars folio 20 verso of the Shahnama

Tabriz, Iran

ca. 1525-1535

•How is Persian art different

from the Islamic art we’ve

seen so far?

Key Concepts

• The chief building for Muslim worship is the mosque, which directs the

worshipper’s attention to Mecca through a niche called a mihrab.

• Mosque architecture use the central plan / dome design reminiscent of Hagia

Sophia (dome, arches, squinches, pendentives).

• Calligraphy is the most prized art form, and appears on most Islamic works of art.

• Both figural and non-figural works incorporate calligraphy with arabesques and

tessellations.

• Persian Islamic art often used figures in their work.

•The earliest grand Islamic buildings, like the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem had

interior walls decorated with mosaics in the Byzantine style, but without human

figures.

• From the 9th century onwards the distinctive Islamic tradition of glazed and

brightly colored tiling for interior and exterior walls and domes developed. Some

earlier schemes create designs using mixtures of tiles each of a single color that are

either cut to shape or are small and of a few shapes, used to create abstract

geometric patterns. Later large painted schemes use tiles painted before firing with

a part of the scheme – a technique requiring confidence in the consistent results of

firing.