When the images remain lifeless the artist will be cast into hell. The strongest statements on the subject of figural depiction are made in the Hadith Traditions of the Prophet , where painters are challenged to "breathe life" into their creations and threatened with punishment on the Day of Judgment.
Partially as a result of this religious sentiment, figures in painting were often stylized and, in some cases, the destruction of figurative artworks occurred. Iconoclasm was previously known in the Byzantine period and aniconicism was a feature of the Judaic world, thus placing the Islamic objection to figurative representations within a larger context.
As ornament, however, figures were largely devoid of any larger significance and perhaps therefore posed less challenge. Initially Christians and Buddhists forbade images of humans and animals in their art for reasons similar to those endorsed by Muslims.
During the Christian iconoclastic period many great works of art were destroyed. But later Christians saw the painting of religious figures as a way of glorifying God and teaching the illiterate masses about him, while Muslims continued to see it as an act of mockery. Buddhists raised the point that images of Buddha distracted Buddhists from their pursuit of nirvana. A lot of good art has probably been destroyed by Islamic purists the same way the statues of Buddha were destroyed by the Taleban in Afghanistan.
An issue of Time was once banned in some Muslim countries because it contained a reproduction of a woodcut of Muhammad. Any picture or an animal or a person in a mosque or work or art is seen as idolatry.
It warns against the creation and worship of idols. It is one of the worst sins and even the worship of Muhammad is sacrilegious. The only being that a Muslim is allowed to worship is Allah. One of Muhammad's most important acts was expelling the Kaaba of idols. One early Arabic source wrote the Kaaba contained paintings as well as statues and that Muhammad ordered them all destroyed except a mural of Jesus and the Virgin Mary which he spared, some suggest, so as not to offend his Christian converts.
Presumably Muhammad and his successors had no problems with paintings. The movement to forbid painting, some, was influenced by Jewish converts. According to the Hadiths, Ibn Abbas, an early disciple of Muhammad said, "The angels will not enter a house in which there is a picture of a dog.
Moslem scholar interpretation produced the blanket statement against all images of animals and people. Interpretations of the ban on idolatry and animal and human figures varies widely. The prophet reportedly allowed the depiction of animals on pillows, carpets and children's toys. Many Islamic cultures allowed images of animals and people to be used in non-religious buildings and works of art of created for private use.
Some of the greatest works of Islamic art were miniature paintings of famous rulers, and court, hunting and battle scnes with lots of human figures found in manuscripts created for the private use of sultans and caliphs.
The Sunnahs are the practices and examples drawn from the Prophet Muhammad's life. They must adhere to a strict chain of narration that ensures their authenticity, taking into account factors such as the character of people in the chain and continuity in narration.
Reports that fail to meet such criteria are disregarded. A bell is the devil's musical instrument. The angels do not enter a house in which is a dog, nor that in which there are pictures. Horne, ed. VI: Medieval Arabia, pp. Then if you must make pictures, make them of trees and things without souls. The four elements of Islamic decoration are: 1 calligraphy, 2 geometric designs, 3 floral and plant designs, and 4 sometimes human and animal figures.
Plant-like forms , grapes and the like, all these thing signify prosperity, happiness, felicity. Islamic art features abstract geometric designs that can be repeated over and over in seeming infinity. Because of the ban on idolatry and animal and human figures, designs and decorations became highly developed and a key elements of what makes Islamic art distinct, unique and so enjoyable. Influenced by art from Persia, China and the Near East, the arabesque style of Islamic art features repetitive flowing or geometric patterns with intricate details and bold colors.
In an article on Mughal Islamic art, Steven M. Kossak and Edith W. With straight edge and compass, artists created geometric patterns of intersecting circles upon which they drew grids of equilateral triangles and squares.
These in turn could be elaborated into polygons and stars. Vines, leaves, and blossoms grew out of each other in continuous curving patterns. In the Mughal period, these floral designs became more and more realistic, so that many flowers could be identified. In India, surfaces both large and small—architecture, clothing, and personal art—were enriched with bright color, especially reds and brilliant blues.
There was also an appreciation of the softer, subtler colors of jade. Colors in patterns were combined to create the rich floral and geometric designs found in Mughal textiles and carpets.
Color in miniature painting was at first fanciful and jewel-like—blue rocks, for instance, and lavender horses—as in the Persian court style.
Another favored way to enrich surfaces was the technique of inlay, in which materials such as ivory and shell were set into wood, and gold and silver into darker metal surfaces. No distinction existed between what is called fine art in Western cultures and the decorative arts.
In Islamic iconography the star is a regular geometric shape that symbolizes equal radiation in all directions from a central point. In this time-lapse photograph, the blur around the Kaaba is created by the bodies of thousands of Muslims circumambulating walking around the structure in reverence. The building is meant to display the power of the new faith.
The shrine takes the form of an octagon with a towering dome and is considered the first great Islamic building. It was erected during the Umayyad dynasty, an important early Muslim dynasty that reached its peak of power during the reign of Abd al-Malik. From the outside, the building is iconic for its foot-tall double-shelled gilt aluminum and bronze dome. Looking at the interior, the original mosaics are largely intact.
Rather than figural representations of Biblical scenes common in Christian churches, the ornamentation here consists of beautiful calligraphy. Importantly, the building is located on a site sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. At the center of the rotunda is a rocky outcropping that is associated with Adam, Abraham, and Mohammad. In this sense, the Dome of the Rock is a literal and physical transcription of the idea that Islam builds upon the earlier monotheistic religious.
Further, the Dome of the Rock illustrates the Late Antique tradition of architecture of the Mediterranean world. The structure is descended from the Pantheon in Rome and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, through it more closely resembles octagonal San Vitale in Ravenna.
Beyond Jerusalem, the descendants of the Umayyad dynasty later ruled most of Spain, Portugal, and a small section of Southern France. The mosque was constructed on the site of a former Christian church, previously a temple to the Roman god Janus. The complex includes a large hypostyle prayer hall hypostyle meaning filled with columns , a courtyard with a fountain in the middle, an orange grove, a covered walkway circling the courtyard, and a minaret that is now encased in a squared, tapered bell tower.
The large patio, marble columns, and capitals in the hypostyle prayer hall are all recycled both from the Christian church that formerly occupied the space, as well as from classical buildings in the region the area was formerly a wealthy Roman province.
The horseshoe arches were known from Roman times and later came to be associated with Islamic architecture in the West. In addition, the alternation of white and red brick was adopted from Roman and Byzantine precedents. Vellum is parchment made from animal skin. Visual clarity was a necessity, because multiple readers often shared one book simultaneously. Here, you can see how the red diacritical marks pronunciation guides accent the dark brown ink.
In addition, the surah or chapter title is embedded in the burnished ornament at the bottom of the sheet. As seen in the religious architectural interiors, figural imagery such as human or animal forms was considered inappropriate.
Instead, artists relied on vegetal and geometric motifs when they decorated sacred manuscripts. Calligraphers enjoyed the highest status of artists in Islamic societies. After long and arduous training, outstanding calligraphers even received public recognition.
During the medieval period the Islamic world came in contact with Mongol invaders. Following the initial devastation from the conquests, the Ilkhanid period turned out to be a time of tremendous cultural exchange during which Islamic art flourished.
The Mihrab wall niche from a Madrasa, Isfahan, Iran, made around , is considered a masterpiece of mosaic tile work. Examples of this type of transfer are once again very extensive, and we cannot cover them all here.
The example of arabesque must suffice. According to Ward , the fertilisation of European ornamental art during the Renaissance 16 th century was at the hands of arabesque. Arabesque and other Islamic geometrical patterns invaded European salons, living rooms, and public reception halls.
Figure 8: View of Al-Azhar mosque courtyard in Cairo. The third way of transfer is the most difficult to explain. Here, the motif was not copied or reproduced but gradually inspired the development of a particular style or fashion of art.
There is increasing evidence that Islamic art, and the arabesque in particular, was the inspiration for both the European Rococo and Baroque styles which were popular in Europe between the 16 th and 18 th centuries Jairazbhoy, The Rococo style consisted of light curvilinear decoration composed of abstract sinuosities such as scrolls, interlacing lines and arabesque designs.
It was developed in France in the 18th century, and later spread to Germany and Austria. The germ of this style is found in the Islamic Aljaferia Palace also known as Hudid Palace , built in northern Spain in the 11 th century, where a number of blind arches and squinches in a style very similar to Rococo decorate its small mosque Jairazbhoy, Baroque architecture has also been traced back to an Islamic origin.
Figure 9: Decorative arcade in Aljaferia showing elements that later inspired the Baroque style. Muslims used motifs such as curviangular arches and squinches, which characterise the Baroque style, in their decorative art as early as the 12 th century.
They became especially popular under the Almoravid rulers al-Murabitunin Arabic who ruled North Africa and Andalusia between and In addition to the above, a more complicated decorative style, consisting of a combination of multifoil arches intersecting with one another like a screen mesh, is found in the Aljaferia Palace as well as in mosques of Tlemcen and Qarawiyyin, built in Morocco between and The main objective of this paper has been to emphasise the uniqueness of Islamic art, which was defined by religious beliefs and cultural values prohibiting the depiction of living creatures including humans.
The other most important feature is the absence of religious representation. In Islam, worship is due only to God, a feature common to many cultures, although they approach it in different manners. Art critics propound the neutrality of Islamic art, which made it easily adaptable to these cultures. Despite their differences, Islam and Christianity share most of their fundamental beliefs which are connected to the same God, the same origin of the message , and sometimes the same moral message.
It is not surprising that vestiges of Islamic art were repeatedly traced in major European artworks, a fact which denotes its significance in the historical development of European art. Ettinghaussen, E. Herzfeld, K. Creswell, and A. Most of the successive Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphs also sent precious items to the Kaabah as gifts, to decorate the House of Allah. He argued that there are two main approaches to artistic expression: organic and geometric. The former appears mainly in areas of natural beauty and favourable environment.
In this case, the artist is more attracted to depicting beautiful landscapes, seashores, plants, animals and humans. Geometric art, on the other hand, appears in societies of harsh natural and environmental conditions such as deserts or tundra. Muslim scholars have different views on this matter. Some of them, especially those from the Shia school of thought permit the imaging of living beings. It was reported that on hearing about his death, the Prophet Muhammad performed prayers for his soul.
This style attained its complete shape under the reign of the fourth Caliph Ali , between and , who was a calligrapher himself. Fikri was devoted to the influence of Islamic art and architecture on southern France, particularly in the Auvergne region.
This Website MuslimHeritage. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website.
These cookies do not store any personal information. Our Books. Social Sciences. World Events. Home Culture Arts. Cem Nizamoglu. Geography Image Gallery by Media Desk. Shining light upon light by Yasmin Khan. Muslim Roots, U. Blues by Jonathan Curiel. Arts Image Gallery by Media Desk. The Abbassid Mosques by Rabah Saoud. Bab Mardum Mosque — An inspiration for Gothic? The Ottoman Madrassa by Rabah Saoud.
The Seljuk Iwan by Rabah Saoud. The Seljuk Mausoleum by Rabah Saoud. Al-Hambra Palace and the river of paradise by Rabah Saoud. Introduction to Islamic Art by Rabah Saoud. Impact on Instrumental Tablature by Rabah Saoud. The Seljuk Minarets by Rabah Saoud. The Mosque of Cordoba by Rabah Saoud. The Muslim Carpet by Rabah Saoud. Introduction to Islamic Architecture by Rabah Saoud. The Seljuk Madrassa by Rabah Saoud. Muslim Heritage: Send us your e-mail address to be informed about our work.
Discover the golden age of Muslim civilisation. All Rights Reserved. Manuscript painting in the late medieval Islamic world reached its height in Persia, Syria, Iraq, and the Ottoman Empire. The art form blossomed across the different regions and was inspired by a range of cultural reference points. The evolution of book painting first began in the 13th century, when the Mongols, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, swept through the Islamic world. Upon the death of Genghis Khan, his empire was divided among his sons and dynasties formed: the Yuan in China, the Ilkhanids in Iran, and the Golden Horde in northern Iran and southern Russia.
The Ilkhanids were a rich civilization that developed under the little khans in Iran. Architectural activity intensified as the Mongols became sedentary yet retained traces of their nomadic origins, such as the north—south orientation of buildings. Persian, Islamic, and East Asian traditions melded together during this period and a process of Iranization took place, in which construction according to previously established types, such as the Iranian-plan mosques , was resumed.
Islamic book painting witnessed its first golden age in the 13th century, mostly within Syria and Iraq. The tradition of the Persian miniature a small painting on paper developed during this period, and it strongly influenced the Ottoman miniature of Turkey and the Mughal miniature in India.
Because illuminated manuscripts were an art of the court, and not seen in public, constraints on the depiction of the human figure were much more relaxed and the human form is represented with frequency within this medium. Influence from the Byzantine visual vocabulary blue and gold coloring, angelic and victorious motifs, symbology of drapery was combined with Mongol facial types seen in 12th-century book frontispieces. Chinese influences in Islamic book painting include the early adoption of the vertical format natural to a book.
Motifs such as peonies, clouds, dragons, and phoenixes were adapted from China as well, and incorporated into manuscript illumination. The breadth of the work has caused it to be called the first world history and its lavish illustrations and calligraphy required the efforts of hundreds of scribes and artists. The largest commissions of illustrated books were usually classics of Persian poetry, such as the Shahnameh. Under the rule of the Safavids in Iran to , the art of manuscript illumination achieved new heights.
The Court of Gayumars, from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp : Illuminated manuscripts of the Shahnameh were often commissioned by royal patrons. The medieval Islamic texts called Maqamat that were copied and illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, were some of the earliest coffee-table books.
They were among the first texts in Islamic art to hold a mirror to daily life, portraying humorous stories and showing little adherence to prior pictorial traditions. In the 17th century a new type of painting developed based around the album muraqqa.
The albums were the creations of connoisseurs who bound together single sheets of paintings, drawings, or calligraphy by various artists; they were sometimes excised from earlier books and other times created as independent works. The paintings of Reza Abbasi figure largely in this new form of book art. The form depicts one or two larger figures, typically idealized beauties in a garden setting, and often use the grisaille techniques previously used for background border paintings.
The Mughals and Ottomans both produced lavish manuscripts of more recent history with the autobiographies of the Mughal emperors and purely military chronicles of Turkish conquests. Portraits of rulers developed in the 16th century, and later in Persia, where they became very popular. Mughal portraits, normally in profile, are very finely drawn in a realist style , while the best Ottoman ones are vigorously stylized.
Album miniatures typically featured picnic scenes, portraits of individuals, or in India especially animals, or idealized youthful beauties of either sex. Masterpieces of Ottoman manuscript illustration include the two books of festivals, one from the end of the 16th century and the other from the era of Sultan Murad III. These books contain numerous illustrations and exhibit a strong Safavid influence, perhaps inspired by books captured in the course of the Ottoman—Safavid wars of the 16th century.
Islamic art has notable achievements in ceramics that reached heights unmatched by other cultures. Discuss how developments such as tin-opacified glazing and stonepaste ceramics made Islamic ceramics some of the most advanced of its time. Islamic art has notable achievements in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for buildings, which reached heights unmatched by other cultures. Early pottery had usually been unglazed, but a tin-opacified glazing technique was developed by Islamic potters.
The first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th century. Another significant contribution was the development of stonepaste ceramics, originating from 9th century Iraq. The first industrial complex for glass and pottery production was built in Ar-Raqqah, Syria, in the 8th century. Other centers for innovative pottery in the Islamic world included Fustat from to , Damascus from to around , and Tabriz from to Lusterware is a type of pottery or porcelain that has an iridescent metallic glaze.
Luster first began as a painting technique in glassmaking , which was then translated to pottery in Mesopotamia in the 9th century. This dish is from East Persia or Central Asia. The techniques, shapes, and decorative motifs of Chinese ceramics were admired and emulated by Islamic potters, especially after the Mongol and Timurid invasions. Until the Early Modern period, Western ceramics had little influence, but Islamic pottery was highly sought after in Europe, and was often copied.
An example of this is the albarello, a type of earthenware jar originally designed to hold apothecary ointments and dry drugs. The development of this type of pharmacy jar had its roots in the Islamic Middle East. Hispano—Moresque examples were exported to Italy, inspiring the earliest Italian examples, from 15th century Florence.
More refined production happened much later, presumably by Muslim potters who worked in the areas reconquered by the Christian kingdoms. The Hispano—Moresque style mixed Islamic and European elements in its designs and was exported to neighboring European countries. The style introduced two ceramic techniques to Europe:.
0コメント