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