Islamic art is known as the artistic style developed in the culture generated by the Muslim world.
Islamic art has a certain stylistic unity, due to the movement of artists, merchants, patrons and workers. The use of a common script throughout the Islamic world and the development of calligraphy reinforce this idea of unity. They attached great importance to geometry and decoration, which could be of three types:
• - Kufic calligraphy: using verses from the Koran.
• - Lacework: through intertwined lines forming stars or polygons.
• - Ataurique: through plant drawings.
In architecture, they created buildings with specific functions such as mosques and madrasahs, following the same basic pattern, although with different shapes. There is practically no art of sculpture but the creations of metal, ivory or ceramic objects frequently reach high technical perfection. There is also a painting and an illumination in the sacred and profane books.
Characterization
Islamic art is also sometimes, and erroneously, referred to as Arabic art. This error comes from an inaccurate use of its meaning, since of the two meanings of the term Arabic, one is geographical, applicable to the natives of Arabia, while the other is linguistic, referring to those who speak the Arabic language of their culture. Muslim art or Islamic art of the Iberian Peninsula is called Hispano-Muslim art.
Islamic art
The Islamic era, Hegira, begins in the year 622, the date on which Muhammad marches from Mecca to Medina fleeing the intransigence shown by his preaching. From that date on, along with religious faith, new social and political attitudes emerged that, in less than a century, expanded from the Bay of Bengal to the Atlantic Ocean.
Islam ('peace, through loving obedience to God') has as its spiritual (or metaphysical) basis a sacred book, called the Quran, which contains the word of Allah (God), revealed directly to Muhammad, the last messenger of Islam, throughout his life, through small verses. The communication of the divine message was carried out in the Arabic language (because, in those times, the Arab people were one of the most noble, honest and sincere peoples on the face of the Earth. However, the divine message had already been sent to other peoples and in other languages, prior to the Arab people, such as the Torah for the Jewish people and the Bible for the Christian people), after which it became the official language and the vehicle of unity.
Evaluation of Umayyad palaces
Introduction
Islamic art is known as the artistic style developed in the culture generated by the Muslim world.
Islamic art has a certain stylistic unity, due to the movement of artists, merchants, patrons and workers. The use of a common script throughout the Islamic world and the development of calligraphy reinforce this idea of unity. They attached great importance to geometry and decoration, which could be of three types:
• - Kufic calligraphy: using verses from the Koran.
• - Lacework: through intertwined lines forming stars or polygons.
• - Ataurique: through plant drawings.
In architecture, they created buildings with specific functions such as mosques and madrasahs, following the same basic pattern, although with different shapes. There is practically no art of sculpture but the creations of metal, ivory or ceramic objects frequently reach high technical perfection. There is also a painting and an illumination in the sacred and profane books.
Characterization
Islamic art is also sometimes, and erroneously, referred to as Arabic art. This error comes from an inaccurate use of its meaning, since of the two meanings of the term Arabic, one is geographical, applicable to the natives of Arabia, while the other is linguistic, referring to those who speak the Arabic language of their culture. Muslim art or Islamic art of the Iberian Peninsula is called Hispano-Muslim art.
Islamic art
The Islamic era, Hegira, begins in the year 622, the date on which Muhammad marches from Mecca to Medina fleeing the intransigence shown by his preaching. From that date on, along with religious faith, new social and political attitudes emerged that, in less than a century, expanded from the Bay of Bengal to the Atlantic Ocean.
Islam ('peace, through loving obedience to God') has as its spiritual (or metaphysical) basis a sacred book, called the , which contains the word of Allah (God), revealed directly to Muhammad, the last messenger of Islam, throughout his life, through small verses. The communication of the divine message was carried out in the Arabic language (because, in those times, the Arab people were one of the most noble, honest and sincere peoples on the face of the Earth. However, the divine message had already been sent to other peoples and in other languages, prior to the Arab people, such as the Torah for the Jewish people and the Bible for the Christian people), after which it became the official language and the vehicle of unity.
In addition to the Quran, there is another primordial source known as the sunna (custom, habit or manner), related to the figure of the prophet. The suna is configured based on hadith or set of acts or sayings of Muhammad, constituting an authentic science of tradition.
Every Muslim (muslim) has to carry out five manifestations or acts in which the dogmatic content of the religion and its aspects of worship or ritual are basically collected. They are known as the pillars of Islam: profession of faith, prayer "Prayer (religion)"), almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca. Each of them has a special impact on artistic expressions. The profession of faith or sahada (There is no God but God and Muhammad his prophet) makes explicit the non-existence of the concept of incarnation of Christianity and Hinduism, at the same time that it proclaims that Muhammad is only the messenger of God. This entails the primacy of the message over the messenger, in the same way that it is, without a doubt, the key to the development that writing acquires as a decorative motif - epigraphy - within Islamic art. It reflects, at the same time, the aniconic tendency latent in Islam from the very beginning, although, that does not mean that figuration ceased to have a certain presence, although in restricted areas. This aniconic trend will lead to the great development of geometric and vegetal motifs with an increasingly greater degree of abstraction that, together with epigraphic motifs, will define ornamentation in Islamic art.
The prayer "Prayer (religion)") or salat is the precept according to which Muslims must pray regularly five times a day. This requires a state of ritual cleanliness or ablutions, sufficient space to prostrate and bow the head to the ground and a correct orientation towards Mecca. A consequence of these obligations is the existence of a building, the mosque (masjid or place to prostrate) with a qibla wall where the mihrab or niche is located, which indicates the correct orientation to Mecca. Mosques usually have a courtyard (sahn) in which there is a fountain (mida) for ablutions or body cleansing. Other associated elements are the minbar or a kind of pulpit with steps for the khutba (Friday sermon), the maqsura or boundary intended for the authorities, the minaret (manara) from whose roof the muezzin calls to prayer and they also use prayer rugs (sayyada) for greater cleanliness in the development of the prayer.
The obligation to give alms (zakat) produces in the artistic field the founding of charitable institutions such as madrassas or theological schools where the Quran is taught, maristan or hospitals, hamman or public baths and fountains. Fasting (sawn) during the month of Ramadan, ninth of the Islamic lunar calendar, has less artistic significance although it can be embodied in certain objects made for the fast-breaking festivals celebrated at the end of Ramadan.
The last precept, the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), at least once in a lifetime, allows the exchange of ideas between the most distant countries, the production of special works such as the cloths that the caliph sends annually to cover the Kaaba or the ornamental certificates of the pilgrimage.
Religion, therefore, constitutes the great unifying element of the broad territory and the extensive time frame - century to the present - through which Islam has expanded. However, this spatio-temporal development has generated an enormous variety of artistic manifestations. Logically, geographical conditions - from deserts to plateau or mountainous areas - as well as historical factors and the consequent pre-existing substrata of civilization in each cultural area have had a decisive impact on artistic expressions, determining their different evolution and their different peculiarities. However, these conditioning and the assimilation of features of all those cultures with which it has been in contact, has not led Islamic art to become a mere repetition of foreign forms and elements. On the contrary, by selecting from a vast repertoire and using it appropriately for its different function, he has achieved a deeply original art.
History of Islamic art
The beginnings of Islamic art (7th to 9th centuries)
Little is known about the architecture before the Umayyad dynasty. The first and most important Islamic building is, without a doubt, the house of the Prophet in Medina. This more or less mythical house was the first place where Muslims gathered to pray, although the Muslim religion believes that prayer can be done anywhere.
The Prophet's house was of great importance for Islamic architecture, since it established the prototype of the mosque of Arab design, consisting of a courtyard with a hypostyle prayer room. This model, adapted to prayer, was not born from nothing, it could be inspired by the temple of Husa (Yemen, century BC) or by the Dura Europos synagogue (renovated in the year 245).[1] Built with perishable materials (wood and clay), the house of the Prophet did not survive for long, but is described in detail in Arab sources.[2] Currently, the Mosque of the Prophet stands on the site where the house was supposedly located. of Muhammad.
Early Islamic objects are very difficult to distinguish from objects from earlier Sassanid and Byzantine, or even Umayyad, periods. In fact, Islam was indeed born in areas where art seems to have been scarce,[3] but surrounded by empires notable for their artistic production. That is why, at the beginning of Islam, Islamic artists used the same techniques and the same motifs as their neighbors.[4] An abundant production of dull ceramics is known, in particular, as demonstrated by a famous bowl preserved in the Louvre Museum, whose inscription assures us that its manufacture dates back to the Islamic era. The bowl comes from one of the few archaeological sites that tracks the transition between the pre-Islamic world and Islam: Susa in Iran.[5].
Among the Umayyads, religious and civil architecture grew with the introduction of new concepts and designs. In this way, the Arab plan, with a courtyard and hypostyle prayer room, becomes a model plan based on the construction, in the most sacred place of the city of Damascus - in the ancient temple of Jupiter and in the place where the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist - of the Great Mosque of the Umayyads. The building was an important milestone for builders (and art historians) to locate the birth of the Arab plane. However, recent works by Myriam Rosen-Ayalon suggest that the Arab plan was born a little earlier, with the first project to build the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.[6].
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is, without a doubt, one of the most important buildings of all Islamic architecture, characterized by a strong Byzantine influence (mosaics with a gold background, centered plane reminiscent of that of the Holy Sepulchre), but which already has purely Islamic elements, such as the large frieze with religious inscriptions from the Koran.[7] Its model did not spread, and what Oleg Grabar considers as the first monument that was a great aesthetic creation of the Islam,[8] was left without posterity.[9].
The Desert Castles in Jordan&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jordan (region) (not yet written)") offer us a lot of information about the civil and military architecture of the time, although their exact function is still being studied: stop for caravans, resting places, fortified residences, palaces for political purposes that allowed meetings between the caliph and the nomadic tribes? Specialists strive to discover it, and it seems that its use has varied depending on the place where they are found.[10] Anjar was a complete city found and tells us about a type of urban planning still very close to that of ancient Rome, with cardo "Cardo (street)") and decumanus, as in Ramla.[11].
In addition to architecture, artisans worked in ceramics, often unglazed,[12] sometimes with a transparent, green or yellow monochrome glaze, and they also worked in metal. It is still very difficult to differentiate these objects from those of the pre-Islamic period; artisans reused Western elements (plant foliage, acanthus leaves, etc.) and Sassanian elements.[13]
In architecture as in the movable arts, Umayyad artists and craftsmen did not invent new forms or methods, but spontaneously reused those of late Mediterranean and Iranian antiquity and adapted them to their artistic design, for example, by replacing the figurative elements that Byzantine mosaics had in the great mosque of Damascus with drawings of trees and cities. These borrowings and adaptations are particularly reflected in the desert castles. The mixture of tradition and readaptation of motifs and architectural elements, little by little, created a typically Muslim art,[14] palpable above all in the aesthetics of arabesques, present at the same time as in the monuments, in the objects or in the pages of the illuminated Korans.[15].
With the shift of the centers of power to the east, two cities that would successively become capitals of the caliphate gained great importance: Baghdad and Samarra in Iraq. The city of Baghdad could not be excavated because it is covered by the contemporary city. We know it from several sources, which describe it as a circular city in whose center large mosques and palaces were built. Samarra has been the subject of several excavations, especially by Ernst Herzfeld and more recently by Alastair Northedge"). Created by Al-Mutasim, in the year 836, it covers about thirty kilometers, and had, in addition to many palaces, two large mosques and several barracks. Abandoned definitively upon the death of Al-Mu'tamid in the year 892, it offers us a reliable chronological milestone.[16].
Samarra has provided us with a large amount of furniture, especially stucco that served as architectural decoration and whose motifs can be used for the approximate dating of buildings.[17] Stucco is also found in furniture art from Tulunid Egypt to Iran, especially accompanying wood in decoration.[18].
The art of ceramics saw at least two great innovations: the invention of faience and metallic luster ceramics that will endure for a long time after the disappearance of the dynasty.[19] In Islam, faience is a mass of clay paste, covered with an opaque glaze treated with tin oxide, and decorated. Imitations of Chinese porcelain[20] then multiplied thanks to cobalt oxide"), used since the century in Suse,[21] and which allows decorations in blue and white. The repertoire of motifs is still quite limited: plant motifs and inscriptions.[22].
The metallic shine would have been born in the 19th century, perhaps due to the incorporation into ceramics of an already existing product that was used in glass.[23] The chronology of this invention and the first centuries is very difficult and has given rise to many controversies. The first metallic shines would be polychrome, without images and from the century on they would become figurative and monochrome, if we are to believe the most commonly accepted opinion, which is based, in part, on the mihrab of the Kairouan Mosque.[24]
Transparent or opaque glass was also produced, decorated by blowing into a mold or by adding other elements.[25] There are several examples of glass carving, the most famous being probably the hare bowl, which is preserved in the treasury of St. Mark in Venice.[26] and architectural decoration in this material that has been found in Samarra.
The medieval period (9th century – 15th century)
Since the century the power of the Abbasid dynasty has been challenged in the provinces furthest from central Iraq. The creation of a rival Shia caliphate, the caliphate of the Fatimid dynasty, followed by the Umayyad caliphate of Spain, gave substance to this opposition. Small dynasties of autonomous governors also appeared in Iran.
The first dynasty to settle in the Iberian Peninsula (in al-Andalus) was that of the Umayyads of Spain. As its name indicates, this lineage descends from that of the great Umayyads of Syria, decimated in the 2nd century. The Umayyad dynasty in Spain was replaced after its fall by various independent kingdoms, the kings of Taifas (1031 - 1091), but artistic production in this period does not differ too much after this political change. At the end of the century, two Berber tribes successively took power in the Maghreb and in Spain, then in full Reconquista, the Almoravids and the Almohads of North Africa, who contributed their Maghreb influence to art.
However, the Christian kings were conquering Islamic Spain, which was reduced to the city of Granada in the century with the Nasrid dynasty, which managed to maintain itself until the year 1492.[27].
In the Maghreb, the Merinids took the torch from the Almohads in 1196. From their capital Fez "Fez (Morocco)") they participated in many military expeditions, both in Spain and in Tunisia, from where they could not dislodge the Hafsides, a small dynasty firmly established there. The Merinids saw their power diminish after the century and were definitively replaced by the Sharifs dynasty in 1549. The Hafsides dynasty ruled until its eviction by the Ottoman Turks in 1574.[28].
Al-Andalus was a place of great culture in medieval times. In addition to important universities such as Averroes, which allowed the dissemination of philosophy and science unknown to the Western world, this territory was also a place where art flourished. In architecture, the importance of the Great Mosque of Córdoba is evident, but this should not overshadow other achievements such as the Bab al-Mardum mosque in Toledo or the caliphal city of Medina Azahara. The Alhambra palace in Granada is also especially important. Several features characterize the architecture of Spain: the horseshoe arches derived from Roman and Visigoth models.[29] The polylobed arches, very common and typical of the entire Islamic era. The shape of the mihrab, like a small room, is also a quite characteristic feature of Spain.[30].
Among the techniques they used to manufacture objects, ivory was widely used for the manufacture of boxes and chests. The Pyx of Al-Mughira is a masterpiece, with many figurative scenes that are difficult to interpret.[31].
The fabrics, silks in particular, were for the most part exported and can be found in many treasures of Western churches wrapping the bones of saints.[32] In ceramics, predominated, especially metallic luster, which was used on tiles or in a series of vessels known as .[33] From the reign of the Maghreb dynasties, there was also a taste for working the wood, carved and painted: the Minbar of the Kutubiyya mosque in Marrakech, dated 1137, is one of the best examples.[34].
Islamic art techniques
Urban planning, architecture and its decoration
Islamic architecture takes many different forms in the Islamic world, often its relationship with the Muslim religion: the mosque is one of them, but the madrassa and places of retreat are also typical buildings in the countries of Islam adapted to the practice of worship.[47].
Building types vary greatly depending on periods and regions. Before the 2nd century, in the cradle of the Arab world, that is, in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, almost all mosques followed the so-called Arabic plan,[48] with a large patio and a hypostyle prayer room, but which varied enormously in their decoration and even in their shapes: in the Maghreb the mosques adopted a "T" plan with naves perpendicular to the qibla, while in Egypt and Syria the naves are parallel. Iran has its own specificities such as the use of brick and decoration in stucco and ceramics,[49] the use of particular forms often taken from Sassanian art such as the Iwan (entrance porches opened by a large arch) and the Persian arch.[50] In Spain, there is rather a taste for a colored architecture with the use of varied "Arco (architecture)") arches (horseshoe, polylobed, etc.).[51] In Anatolia, under the influence of Byzantine architecture, but also due to specific evolutions in the Arab plan in this region, large Ottoman mosques with a singular and disproportionate dome were built.[52] In Mughal India the plans gradually moved away from the Iranian model, with the bulbous dome being very prominent in their buildings.[53].
The art of the book
The art of the book") includes painting, binding, calligraphy and lighting. That is, arabesques and drawings in the margins and in the titles.[54].
The art of the book is traditionally divided into three different areas: Arabic for Syrian, Egyptian, Jezirah, and even Ottoman manuscripts from the Maghgreb (but these can also be considered separately). Persian for manuscripts created in Iran, particularly during the Mongol period. Indian for Mughal works. Each of these areas has its own style, divided into different schools, with its own artists and conventions. The evolutions are parallel, although it seems evident that there have been influences between schools, and even between geographical areas, through political changes and the frequent movements of artists.[55].
The so-called "minor" arts
The decorative arts are known in Europe as minor arts. However, in the lands of Islam, as in many non-European or ancient cultures, these arts have been widely used for more artistic than utilitarian purposes and have reached such a point of perfection that they cannot be classified as crafts.[56] Therefore, if Islamic artists were not interested in sculpture for primarily religious reasons,[57] they left us evidence of remarkable ingenuity and mastery in the arts of metal, ceramics, glass, and rock crystal; and also in hard stones such as chalcedony, wood carving, marquetry and ivory.
Motifs, themes and iconography of Islamic art
Contenido
Cuando se menciona el término arte islámico, a menudo se piensa en un arte sin imágenes compuesto enteramente de motivos geométricos y arabescos. Sin embargo, hay muchas representaciones de figuras en las artes del islam, particularmente en todo aquello que no está comprendido dentro del ámbito de la religión.
Art and religion
Religions have played an important role in the development of Islamic art, which has often been used for sacred purposes. One thinks, of course, of the Muslim religion. However, the Islamic world did not have a Muslim majority until the century and other beliefs have also played an important role in Islam. Christianity, particularly, in an area ranging from Egypt to modern-day Türkiye.[58] Zoroastrianism, especially in the Iranian world. Hinduism and Buddhism in the Indian world and animism throughout the Maghreb.
Art and literature
However, not all Islamic art is religious, and artists also used other sources, including literature. Persian literature, such as the Shahnamé, the national epic composed at the beginning of the century by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, the Five Poems or Jamsé of Nezami in the (century), is also an important source of inspiration for many motifs found in both book art and objects (ceramics, tapestries, etc.).[59] The works of the mystical poets Saadi and Djami") They have also given rise to many performances. The al-Jami tawarikh"), or Universal History, composed by the Ilkhanid vizier Rashid al-Din") at the beginning of the century has been the inspiration for numerous performances throughout the Islamic world.[60].
Arabic literature is not the only one with representations; the fables of Indian origin Calila and Dimna or the Maqamat of Al-Hariri") and other texts were frequently illustrated in the workshops of Baghdad or Syria.
Scientific literature, such as treatises on astronomy or mechanics, also have illustrations.
Abstract motifs and calligraphy
The decorative motifs are very numerous in this art and very varied, from geometric motifs to arabesques. Calligraphy in the lands of Islam is considered an art, even sacred, given that the surahs of the Koran are considered divine words and that representations of living beings are excluded from religious books and places, calligraphy deserves special attention, not only in the religious sphere, but also in secular works.[61].
The figurative representations
Islamic art is often thought to be completely aniconic, however, numerous human and animal figures can be seen in ceramics. The religious images of the prophet Muhammad, Jesus and the Old Testament, as well as the imams "Iman (religion)"), also gave rise to representations that, depending on times and places, have their faces veiled or not. The question of figurative representation in Islam is still very complex today.[62].
Knowledge of the arts of Islam in the world
Historiography of Islamic art
Islamic art has long been known in Europe thanks to the numerous imports of precious materials (silk, rock crystal), which were made in medieval times. Many of these objects have become relics and are currently preserved in the church treasuries of the Western world.[63] However, the history of Islamic art as a science is a very recent discipline compared, for example, to that of other ancient arts. On the other hand, excavations of Islamic art have often been victims of archaeologists who, eager to quickly access the oldest levels, plundered the most modern levels.
Born in the century and promoted by the orientalist movement, this discipline evolved marked by many ups and downs, due to world political and religious events. Colonization, in particular, encouraged the study of some countries - as well as the emergence of European and American collections - but entire periods of history have been forgotten.[64] Likewise, the Cold War has considerably slowed down the study of the arts of Islam, preventing the dissemination of studies and discoveries.
Large collections of Islamic art
As is often the case, the great collections of Islamic art are rather in the Western world, in the Louvre Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum in particular. However, there are collections elsewhere, including those at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Egypt, or the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The Gulbenkian Lisbon Foundation and the Khalili Collection") also preserve numerous pieces. American museums, such as the Freer Gallery in Washington, have very important collections, both of objects and manuscripts. The Corning Museum of Glass in New York has one of the largest collections of Islamic glass in the world. As for manuscripts, we must point out large libraries such as the British Library or the National Library of France, whose oriental collections are quite complete although the museums also preserve illustrated pages and manuscripts.
Great archaeological sites of Islamic art
Much progress is being made in the study of the production of objects and the earliest Islamic architecture, especially in Iraq, Samarra or Susa or even in Cairo. Despite the current context, the main sites are being excavated throughout the Islamic world from Pakistan to the Maghreb.
• - Abbasid art refers to the artistic production that took place under this dynasty of caliphs until the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in Baghdad in the year 1055.
• - Islamic architecture.
• - Islamic painting.
• - Art of the Islamic Revolution.
In Spain
• - Hispanic-Muslim art.
• - Emiral and caliphal art: Muslim art from Spain from the time of the emirate and the caliphate of Córdoba.
• - Taifa art.
• - Almoravid art.
• - Almohad art.
• - Nasrid art.
• - Mudejar art.
* This article has been expanded with the help of a translation from the French Wikipedia [1].
• - Arts et civilizations de l'islam, sous la direction de Markus Hattstein et Peter Delius, Könemann, Cologne, 2000 ;.
• - Encyclopédie de l'islam, Brill, 1960 (2×10 edition) ;.
• - C.E. Bosworth, Les Dynasties Muslims, trans. Y. Thoraval, Actes sud, coll. «Sinbad», 1996;.
• - H. Stierlin, Islam: from Bagdad to Cordoue, des origines au XIII siècle, Taschen, 2002;.
• - S. Blair, J. Bloom, The art and architecture of Islam 1250-1800, Yale University Press, 1994 ;.
• - R. Ettinghausen, O. Grabar, M. Jenkins-Madina, Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250, Yale University Press, 2001 ;.
• - R. Hillenbrand, Islamic architecture : form, function and meaning, Edinburgh university press, 1994.
• - Introduction to the first Hispanic-Muslim art.
• - Département art islamic du Métropolitan Museum of Art.
• - A unitary art Archived June 10, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. in Alif Nûn No. 26, April 2005.
References
[1] ↑ Stierlin, Henri. La arquitectura islámica. París: PUF, 1993. p. 9 - 10.
[2] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. La arquitectura islámica, la forma, función y meaningNew York: Columbia University Press. p. 39.
[3] ↑ Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, col. Campos, 2000. p.105 - 107.
[4] ↑ Podemos considerar al arte islámico como una acumulación de estructuras y formas que señalan a los cuatro rincones del mundo conquistado. Grabar, Oleg. p. 296.
[5] ↑ Sophie Makariou (ed). Suse, terracota Islámica. Snoeck, 2005.
[6] ↑ Rosen Ayalon, Myriam. El arte islámico y Arqueología en Palestina. París: PUF, 2002.
[7] ↑ O. Grabar. La Cúpula de la Roca, jewelof Jerusalén. 1997.
[8] ↑ Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, col. Campos, 2000. p.72.
[9] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. Archiitecture Islámica, forma, función y meaningNew York: Columbia University Press, p. 20. Esta observación, sin embargo, podría ser rebatida por algunos trabajos recientes, y el plano de la Cúpula de la Roca podría tener su réplica en la Gran Mezquita de Kairuán, según la disposición de sus columnas y capiteles.
[10] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. Arquitectura islámica, forma, función y meaning New York: Columbia University Press, p. 384 - 390.Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, col. Campos, 2000. p. 193 - 236.
[11] ↑ Bernus-Taylor, Martha. "El arte de islam en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 456 - 457.
[13] ↑ "Si la producción de objetos artísticos durante los primeros ciento veinticinco años del periodo musulmán se discute mucho, es porque la cultura material cambió muy poco durante el primer siglo y cuarto después de la conquista musulmana "Grabar y Etinghausen,El arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. New Haven y Londres: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 39.
[14] ↑ En un país rico en tradiciones antiguas, frente al Mediterráneo, conectado por vías navegables (el Éufrates, y por tanto el Océano Índico) y rutas terrestres con el resto del mundo y el extremo Irán oriental, se yuxtaponen y entrelazan elementos cristianos, helenísticos y sasánidas que gradualmente produjeron un arte original. Bernus-Taylor, Martha. El arte del islam. París: RMN, 2001. p.9.
[15] ↑ Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval]. París: Flammarion, col. "Champs", 2000. p. 291 - 299.
[16] ↑ Ver diferentes publicaciones Alastair Narthedge, en particular: "Samarra", en Enciclopedia del islam. Brill, 2.ª edición. Comentarios a Samarra y la arqueología de las grandes ciudades. Antigüedad, en marzo de 2005.
[17] ↑ Herzfeld, Ernst. WanndschmuckDer von der Bauten Samarra. Berlín, 1923.
[18] ↑ Véase, por ejemplo, el panneau à l'oiseau stylisé AO 6023 en el Museo del Louvre.
[19] ↑ Grabar, Oleg; Ettinghausen, Richard. Arte islámico y la arquitectura 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 68 - 69.
[20] ↑ las relaciones con China en este momento son difíciles pero existen. La cerámica china se han encontrado en varios sitios como Suse y Siraf. Véase, por ejemplo Soustiel, Jean. La cerámica islámica. Friburgo, la oficina del libro, 1985.
[21] ↑ de acuerdo a la investigación de Monik Kervran, publicada en los cuadernos de la Delegación Arqueológica Francesa en Irán.
[22] ↑ Según Grube, las inscripciones sirven para reconocer las piezas en las distintas colecciones. Grube, Ernst J. Islamic Pottery of the Eight to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection. Londres, 1976.
[23] ↑ Para vidrio con brillo, ver Carboni, S. Glass of the sultans. [Expo. Corning, Nueva York, Atenas. 2001 - 2002] New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Dos de ellos datados en 772-773 y 779 fueron encontrados en las excavaciones de Scanlon en Fustat.
[24] ↑ Lane, Arthur. Early islamic pottery. Londres : Faber et Faber, 1947.
[25] ↑ Hasson, Rachel. Early Islamic Glass. Jerusalem. 1979.
[26] ↑ Carboni, S. Glass of the sultans. [Expo . Corning, New-York, Athènes. 2001 - 2002] New York : Metropolitan museum of art, 2001.
[27] ↑ Boswrth, Clifford Edmund. Las dinastías musulmanased. Yves Thoraval. Actes Sud, Ed. Sindbad, 1996. p. 37 - 48.
[28] ↑ Boswrth, Clifford Edmund. Las dinastías musulmanas ed. Yves Thoraval. Actes Sud, Ed. Sindbad, 1996. p. p. 49 - 71.
[29] ↑ [...] incluso esta forma de construcción se pone de manifiesto, entre el Ebro y el Duero, de 661 es la (iglesia de San Juan de Baños) [...]. Se puede afirmar que el origen del arco de herradura es anterior y se sitúa en plena época imperial romana. "Stierlin, Henri. El islam, desde Bagdad a Córdoba, de los orígenes, al siglo XIII Taschen, 2002. p. 113.
[32] ↑ El textil español se producen en talleres en los que la Realeza tienen un monopolio. Grabar, Oleg y Ettinghausen, Richard. Arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 97.
[33] ↑ Bernus Taylor, Martha. "El arte del islam". en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 513.
[34] ↑ Oleg Grabar y Ettinghausen, Richard. Arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 278.
[35] ↑ Sheila S. Blair; y Jonathan M. Bloom: El arte y la arquitectura del islam. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. págs. 114 a 123.
[36] ↑ Bernus-Taylor, Martha. "El arte de islam en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 498.
[37] ↑ Véase: Casanelli, Roberto (ed). El Mediterráneo de las cruzadas. Paris, Citadelles y Mazenod, 2000 y Trésors Fatimides du Caire. [Cat exp. Paris, Institut du monde arabe, 1998] Paris : Institut du monde arabe, 1998.
[38] ↑ Georges Tate: L'Orient des Croisades. París: Gallimard, coll. Découvertes Gallimard (n° 129), 1991, 2000, 2008.
[39] ↑ Marthe Bernus Taylor: Les arts de l’islam. París: RMN, 2001. p. 70. véase también L'Orient de Saladin, l'art des Ayyoubides [Cat Exp. Paris, Institut du monde arabe. 2001] Paris : Gallimard, 2001.
[40] ↑ varios miles de edificios se construyeron durante este período. Ver Blair, Sheila S & Bloom, Jonathan M.El arte y la arquitectura del islam, 1250 - 1800. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. p. 70 - 96.
[41] ↑ El mejor ejemplo de esta rara orientación en el islam es el plano de Takht-Sulayman.
[42] ↑ cf. página de la exhibition El legado de Genghis Khan Archivado el 26 de junio de 2007 en Wayback Machine., y el catálogo: Komaroff, Linda y Carboni, Stefano (eds). El legado de Genghis Khan: El arte y la cultura en Asia Occidental, 1256 - 1353. [Expo. Nueva York, Museo Metropolitano de Arte. 2002 - 2003; Los Angeles, Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. 2003]. Nueva York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.: http://www.lacma.org/khan/
[43] ↑ Oleg Grabar, y Richard Ettinghausen. El Arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 255.
[44] ↑ Se trata de una copia en seis volúmenes de Masnavi de Jalal al-Din Rumi, sin duda realizado en Konya y fechado en 1268 - 1269. Ettinghausen y Grabar. id. p. 257-258.
[45] ↑ Blair, Sheila S. y Bloom, Jonathan M.El arte y la arquitectura del islam, 1250 - 1800London y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. p. 132 - 148.
[46] ↑ Blair y Bloom,op. cit.p. 149 - 162.
[47] ↑ El arte islámico se basó inicialmente en la herencia de Bizancio y Persa para crear obras maestras, aunque siempre afirmando su especificidad, en primer lugar, a través de los patios con columnas en las mezquitas. Allí era donde se reunían los creyentes y adoptaban una disposición a lo ancho para la oración ritual, lo que dio lugar a la sala oblonga. Stierlin, Henri. El islam, desde Bagdad a Córdoba, los orígenes siglo XIII. Köln: Taschen, 2002. p. 228 - 229.
[48] ↑ El plano, de acuerdo a la investigación de Myriam Rosen Ayalon, se llevó a la práctica en la construcción de la Mezquita Al-Aqsa. Actualmente, la Mezquita de los Omeyas en Damasco es el arquetipo de este plano. Rosen Ayalon, Myriam. El arte islámico y Arqueología en Palestina. PUF, 2002. Hillenbrand, Robert. La arquitectura islámica. Forma, función y significado.New York: Colombia University Press, 1994. p. 69 - 70.
[49] ↑ Bernus Taylor, Martha. "El arte del islam en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam.París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 484 - 485.
[50] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. La arquitectura islámica. Forma, función y significado.New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. p. 100 - 114.
[51] ↑ Ese es particularmente el caso de la Mezquita de Córdoba, el palacio de Medina Azahara o la Alhambra de Granada. Cf Bernus Taylor, Martha. El arte del islam. La Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 481 - 482.
[52] ↑ Goodwin, Godfrey. Historia de la arquitectura otomana. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1971.
[53] ↑ Blair, Sheila s. y Bloom, Jonathan M.El arte y la arquitectura del islam, 1250 - 1800. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. p. 266 - 286.
[54] ↑ Para estos diferentes aspectos, véase Déroche, François (ed). Manual codicologyParis, 2000.
[56] ↑ Los objetos artísticos tuvieron gran consideración, tanto entre la corte como entre la burguesía urbana. Se nombran en segundo lugar después de los palacios en las citas de los textos, como signos externos de riqueza, y se ejerció un gran control sobre su producción. Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, 2000 (2 ª ed.). p. 264.
[57] ↑ La condena de la idolatría desterró la escultura casi por completo en la práctica artística. Los leones del palacio de la Alhambra en Granada o las esculturas que adornan los capiteles de algunas mezquitas de Anatolia son, sin duda, excepciones. Naef, Silvia.¿Existe una cuestión de imagen en el islam? París: tetraedro, 2004.
[58] ↑ Se cree que fueron artistas bizantinos los que levantaron la Mezquita de los Omeyas en Damasco: cf. Ettinghausen, Richard y Grabar, Oleg. El arte islámico y la arquitectura.Londres y New Haven: Yale University Oress, p. 26. Del mismo modo, hay muchas obras que tienen iconografía cristiana, principalmente en Egipto y Siria.
[59] ↑ Extraña y maravillosa tierra del islam. Exposición en el Museo del Louvre el 23 de abril - 23 de julio de 2001] París: RMN, 2001. p. 176 - 179 en el Shahnameh.
[60] ↑ S. Blair, un compendio de crónicas: Rashid al-Din ilustra la historia del mundo, 1995.
[61] ↑ El islam, las artes . Encyclopaedi Universalis en. T. 9. París, 1968. p. 182 - 184.
[62] ↑ Ver Sylvia Naef: ¿Existe una cuestión de imagen en el islam?. París: Tétraèdres, 2004.
[63] ↑ En el Museo del Louvre: Artículos de lujo que ya pertenecían a la colección real francesa. La hermosa jarra de cristal de roca tallada en un taller en Egipto a principios del siglo XI, actualmente en el departamento de arte, fue ofrecida por Suger a la Abadía de Saint-Denis. Bernus-Taylor, Martha. El arte del islam Paris: RMN, 2001. Véase también los objetos del tesoro de San Marcos en Venecia:El Tesoro de San Marcos en Venecia. [expo de París, Grand Palais, 1984.] París: Reunión de Museos Nacionales, 1984.
[64] ↑ Esto es particularmente cierto en el caso del arte otomano tardío y Kaqjars, hoy en vías de redescubrimiento.
Quran
In addition to the Quran, there is another primordial source known as the sunna (custom, habit or manner), related to the figure of the prophet. The suna is configured based on hadith or set of acts or sayings of Muhammad, constituting an authentic science of tradition.
Every Muslim (muslim) has to carry out five manifestations or acts in which the dogmatic content of the religion and its aspects of worship or ritual are basically collected. They are known as the pillars of Islam: profession of faith, prayer "Prayer (religion)"), almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca. Each of them has a special impact on artistic expressions. The profession of faith or sahada (There is no God but God and Muhammad his prophet) makes explicit the non-existence of the concept of incarnation of Christianity and Hinduism, at the same time that it proclaims that Muhammad is only the messenger of God. This entails the primacy of the message over the messenger, in the same way that it is, without a doubt, the key to the development that writing acquires as a decorative motif - epigraphy - within Islamic art. It reflects, at the same time, the aniconic tendency latent in Islam from the very beginning, although, that does not mean that figuration ceased to have a certain presence, although in restricted areas. This aniconic trend will lead to the great development of geometric and vegetal motifs with an increasingly greater degree of abstraction that, together with epigraphic motifs, will define ornamentation in Islamic art.
The prayer "Prayer (religion)") or salat is the precept according to which Muslims must pray regularly five times a day. This requires a state of ritual cleanliness or ablutions, sufficient space to prostrate and bow the head to the ground and a correct orientation towards Mecca. A consequence of these obligations is the existence of a building, the mosque (masjid or place to prostrate) with a qibla wall where the mihrab or niche is located, which indicates the correct orientation to Mecca. Mosques usually have a courtyard (sahn) in which there is a fountain (mida) for ablutions or body cleansing. Other associated elements are the minbar or a kind of pulpit with steps for the khutba (Friday sermon), the maqsura or boundary intended for the authorities, the minaret (manara) from whose roof the muezzin calls to prayer and they also use prayer rugs (sayyada) for greater cleanliness in the development of the prayer.
The obligation to give alms (zakat) produces in the artistic field the founding of charitable institutions such as madrassas or theological schools where the Quran is taught, maristan or hospitals, hamman or public baths and fountains. Fasting (sawn) during the month of Ramadan, ninth of the Islamic lunar calendar, has less artistic significance although it can be embodied in certain objects made for the fast-breaking festivals celebrated at the end of Ramadan.
The last precept, the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), at least once in a lifetime, allows the exchange of ideas between the most distant countries, the production of special works such as the cloths that the caliph sends annually to cover the Kaaba or the ornamental certificates of the pilgrimage.
Religion, therefore, constitutes the great unifying element of the broad territory and the extensive time frame - century to the present - through which Islam has expanded. However, this spatio-temporal development has generated an enormous variety of artistic manifestations. Logically, geographical conditions - from deserts to plateau or mountainous areas - as well as historical factors and the consequent pre-existing substrata of civilization in each cultural area have had a decisive impact on artistic expressions, determining their different evolution and their different peculiarities. However, these conditioning and the assimilation of features of all those cultures with which it has been in contact, has not led Islamic art to become a mere repetition of foreign forms and elements. On the contrary, by selecting from a vast repertoire and using it appropriately for its different function, he has achieved a deeply original art.
History of Islamic art
The beginnings of Islamic art (7th to 9th centuries)
Little is known about the architecture before the Umayyad dynasty. The first and most important Islamic building is, without a doubt, the house of the Prophet in Medina. This more or less mythical house was the first place where Muslims gathered to pray, although the Muslim religion believes that prayer can be done anywhere.
The Prophet's house was of great importance for Islamic architecture, since it established the prototype of the mosque of Arab design, consisting of a courtyard with a hypostyle prayer room. This model, adapted to prayer, was not born from nothing, it could be inspired by the temple of Husa (Yemen, century BC) or by the Dura Europos synagogue (renovated in the year 245).[1] Built with perishable materials (wood and clay), the house of the Prophet did not survive for long, but is described in detail in Arab sources.[2] Currently, the Mosque of the Prophet stands on the site where the house was supposedly located. of Muhammad.
Early Islamic objects are very difficult to distinguish from objects from earlier Sassanid and Byzantine, or even Umayyad, periods. In fact, Islam was indeed born in areas where art seems to have been scarce,[3] but surrounded by empires notable for their artistic production. That is why, at the beginning of Islam, Islamic artists used the same techniques and the same motifs as their neighbors.[4] An abundant production of dull ceramics is known, in particular, as demonstrated by a famous bowl preserved in the Louvre Museum, whose inscription assures us that its manufacture dates back to the Islamic era. The bowl comes from one of the few archaeological sites that tracks the transition between the pre-Islamic world and Islam: Susa in Iran.[5].
Among the Umayyads, religious and civil architecture grew with the introduction of new concepts and designs. In this way, the Arab plan, with a courtyard and hypostyle prayer room, becomes a model plan based on the construction, in the most sacred place of the city of Damascus - in the ancient temple of Jupiter and in the place where the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist - of the Great Mosque of the Umayyads. The building was an important milestone for builders (and art historians) to locate the birth of the Arab plane. However, recent works by Myriam Rosen-Ayalon suggest that the Arab plan was born a little earlier, with the first project to build the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.[6].
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is, without a doubt, one of the most important buildings of all Islamic architecture, characterized by a strong Byzantine influence (mosaics with a gold background, centered plane reminiscent of that of the Holy Sepulchre), but which already has purely Islamic elements, such as the large frieze with religious inscriptions from the Koran.[7] Its model did not spread, and what Oleg Grabar considers as the first monument that was a great aesthetic creation of the Islam,[8] was left without posterity.[9].
The Desert Castles in Jordan&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jordan (region) (not yet written)") offer us a lot of information about the civil and military architecture of the time, although their exact function is still being studied: stop for caravans, resting places, fortified residences, palaces for political purposes that allowed meetings between the caliph and the nomadic tribes? Specialists strive to discover it, and it seems that its use has varied depending on the place where they are found.[10] Anjar was a complete city found and tells us about a type of urban planning still very close to that of ancient Rome, with cardo "Cardo (street)") and decumanus, as in Ramla.[11].
In addition to architecture, artisans worked in ceramics, often unglazed,[12] sometimes with a transparent, green or yellow monochrome glaze, and they also worked in metal. It is still very difficult to differentiate these objects from those of the pre-Islamic period; artisans reused Western elements (plant foliage, acanthus leaves, etc.) and Sassanian elements.[13]
In architecture as in the movable arts, Umayyad artists and craftsmen did not invent new forms or methods, but spontaneously reused those of late Mediterranean and Iranian antiquity and adapted them to their artistic design, for example, by replacing the figurative elements that Byzantine mosaics had in the great mosque of Damascus with drawings of trees and cities. These borrowings and adaptations are particularly reflected in the desert castles. The mixture of tradition and readaptation of motifs and architectural elements, little by little, created a typically Muslim art,[14] palpable above all in the aesthetics of arabesques, present at the same time as in the monuments, in the objects or in the pages of the illuminated Korans.[15].
With the shift of the centers of power to the east, two cities that would successively become capitals of the caliphate gained great importance: Baghdad and Samarra in Iraq. The city of Baghdad could not be excavated because it is covered by the contemporary city. We know it from several sources, which describe it as a circular city in whose center large mosques and palaces were built. Samarra has been the subject of several excavations, especially by Ernst Herzfeld and more recently by Alastair Northedge"). Created by Al-Mutasim, in the year 836, it covers about thirty kilometers, and had, in addition to many palaces, two large mosques and several barracks. Abandoned definitively upon the death of Al-Mu'tamid in the year 892, it offers us a reliable chronological milestone.[16].
Samarra has provided us with a large amount of furniture, especially stucco that served as architectural decoration and whose motifs can be used for the approximate dating of buildings.[17] Stucco is also found in furniture art from Tulunid Egypt to Iran, especially accompanying wood in decoration.[18].
The art of ceramics saw at least two great innovations: the invention of faience and metallic luster ceramics that will endure for a long time after the disappearance of the dynasty.[19] In Islam, faience is a mass of clay paste, covered with an opaque glaze treated with tin oxide, and decorated. Imitations of Chinese porcelain[20] then multiplied thanks to cobalt oxide"), used since the century in Suse,[21] and which allows decorations in blue and white. The repertoire of motifs is still quite limited: plant motifs and inscriptions.[22].
The metallic shine would have been born in the 19th century, perhaps due to the incorporation into ceramics of an already existing product that was used in glass.[23] The chronology of this invention and the first centuries is very difficult and has given rise to many controversies. The first metallic shines would be polychrome, without images and from the century on they would become figurative and monochrome, if we are to believe the most commonly accepted opinion, which is based, in part, on the mihrab of the Kairouan Mosque.[24]
Transparent or opaque glass was also produced, decorated by blowing into a mold or by adding other elements.[25] There are several examples of glass carving, the most famous being probably the hare bowl, which is preserved in the treasury of St. Mark in Venice.[26] and architectural decoration in this material that has been found in Samarra.
The medieval period (9th century – 15th century)
Since the century the power of the Abbasid dynasty has been challenged in the provinces furthest from central Iraq. The creation of a rival Shia caliphate, the caliphate of the Fatimid dynasty, followed by the Umayyad caliphate of Spain, gave substance to this opposition. Small dynasties of autonomous governors also appeared in Iran.
The first dynasty to settle in the Iberian Peninsula (in al-Andalus) was that of the Umayyads of Spain. As its name indicates, this lineage descends from that of the great Umayyads of Syria, decimated in the 2nd century. The Umayyad dynasty in Spain was replaced after its fall by various independent kingdoms, the kings of Taifas (1031 - 1091), but artistic production in this period does not differ too much after this political change. At the end of the century, two Berber tribes successively took power in the Maghreb and in Spain, then in full Reconquista, the Almoravids and the Almohads of North Africa, who contributed their Maghreb influence to art.
However, the Christian kings were conquering Islamic Spain, which was reduced to the city of Granada in the century with the Nasrid dynasty, which managed to maintain itself until the year 1492.[27].
In the Maghreb, the Merinids took the torch from the Almohads in 1196. From their capital Fez "Fez (Morocco)") they participated in many military expeditions, both in Spain and in Tunisia, from where they could not dislodge the Hafsides, a small dynasty firmly established there. The Merinids saw their power diminish after the century and were definitively replaced by the Sharifs dynasty in 1549. The Hafsides dynasty ruled until its eviction by the Ottoman Turks in 1574.[28].
Al-Andalus was a place of great culture in medieval times. In addition to important universities such as Averroes, which allowed the dissemination of philosophy and science unknown to the Western world, this territory was also a place where art flourished. In architecture, the importance of the Great Mosque of Córdoba is evident, but this should not overshadow other achievements such as the Bab al-Mardum mosque in Toledo or the caliphal city of Medina Azahara. The Alhambra palace in Granada is also especially important. Several features characterize the architecture of Spain: the horseshoe arches derived from Roman and Visigoth models.[29] The polylobed arches, very common and typical of the entire Islamic era. The shape of the mihrab, like a small room, is also a quite characteristic feature of Spain.[30].
Among the techniques they used to manufacture objects, ivory was widely used for the manufacture of boxes and chests. The Pyx of Al-Mughira is a masterpiece, with many figurative scenes that are difficult to interpret.[31].
The fabrics, silks in particular, were for the most part exported and can be found in many treasures of Western churches wrapping the bones of saints.[32] In ceramics, predominated, especially metallic luster, which was used on tiles or in a series of vessels known as .[33] From the reign of the Maghreb dynasties, there was also a taste for working the wood, carved and painted: the Minbar of the Kutubiyya mosque in Marrakech, dated 1137, is one of the best examples.[34].
Islamic art techniques
Urban planning, architecture and its decoration
Islamic architecture takes many different forms in the Islamic world, often its relationship with the Muslim religion: the mosque is one of them, but the madrassa and places of retreat are also typical buildings in the countries of Islam adapted to the practice of worship.[47].
Building types vary greatly depending on periods and regions. Before the 2nd century, in the cradle of the Arab world, that is, in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, almost all mosques followed the so-called Arabic plan,[48] with a large patio and a hypostyle prayer room, but which varied enormously in their decoration and even in their shapes: in the Maghreb the mosques adopted a "T" plan with naves perpendicular to the qibla, while in Egypt and Syria the naves are parallel. Iran has its own specificities such as the use of brick and decoration in stucco and ceramics,[49] the use of particular forms often taken from Sassanian art such as the Iwan (entrance porches opened by a large arch) and the Persian arch.[50] In Spain, there is rather a taste for a colored architecture with the use of varied "Arco (architecture)") arches (horseshoe, polylobed, etc.).[51] In Anatolia, under the influence of Byzantine architecture, but also due to specific evolutions in the Arab plan in this region, large Ottoman mosques with a singular and disproportionate dome were built.[52] In Mughal India the plans gradually moved away from the Iranian model, with the bulbous dome being very prominent in their buildings.[53].
The art of the book
The art of the book") includes painting, binding, calligraphy and lighting. That is, arabesques and drawings in the margins and in the titles.[54].
The art of the book is traditionally divided into three different areas: Arabic for Syrian, Egyptian, Jezirah, and even Ottoman manuscripts from the Maghgreb (but these can also be considered separately). Persian for manuscripts created in Iran, particularly during the Mongol period. Indian for Mughal works. Each of these areas has its own style, divided into different schools, with its own artists and conventions. The evolutions are parallel, although it seems evident that there have been influences between schools, and even between geographical areas, through political changes and the frequent movements of artists.[55].
The so-called "minor" arts
The decorative arts are known in Europe as minor arts. However, in the lands of Islam, as in many non-European or ancient cultures, these arts have been widely used for more artistic than utilitarian purposes and have reached such a point of perfection that they cannot be classified as crafts.[56] Therefore, if Islamic artists were not interested in sculpture for primarily religious reasons,[57] they left us evidence of remarkable ingenuity and mastery in the arts of metal, ceramics, glass, and rock crystal; and also in hard stones such as chalcedony, wood carving, marquetry and ivory.
Motifs, themes and iconography of Islamic art
Contenido
Cuando se menciona el término arte islámico, a menudo se piensa en un arte sin imágenes compuesto enteramente de motivos geométricos y arabescos. Sin embargo, hay muchas representaciones de figuras en las artes del islam, particularmente en todo aquello que no está comprendido dentro del ámbito de la religión.
Art and religion
Religions have played an important role in the development of Islamic art, which has often been used for sacred purposes. One thinks, of course, of the Muslim religion. However, the Islamic world did not have a Muslim majority until the century and other beliefs have also played an important role in Islam. Christianity, particularly, in an area ranging from Egypt to modern-day Türkiye.[58] Zoroastrianism, especially in the Iranian world. Hinduism and Buddhism in the Indian world and animism throughout the Maghreb.
Art and literature
However, not all Islamic art is religious, and artists also used other sources, including literature. Persian literature, such as the Shahnamé, the national epic composed at the beginning of the century by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, the Five Poems or Jamsé of Nezami in the (century), is also an important source of inspiration for many motifs found in both book art and objects (ceramics, tapestries, etc.).[59] The works of the mystical poets Saadi and Djami") They have also given rise to many performances. The al-Jami tawarikh"), or Universal History, composed by the Ilkhanid vizier Rashid al-Din") at the beginning of the century has been the inspiration for numerous performances throughout the Islamic world.[60].
Arabic literature is not the only one with representations; the fables of Indian origin Calila and Dimna or the Maqamat of Al-Hariri") and other texts were frequently illustrated in the workshops of Baghdad or Syria.
Scientific literature, such as treatises on astronomy or mechanics, also have illustrations.
Abstract motifs and calligraphy
The decorative motifs are very numerous in this art and very varied, from geometric motifs to arabesques. Calligraphy in the lands of Islam is considered an art, even sacred, given that the surahs of the Koran are considered divine words and that representations of living beings are excluded from religious books and places, calligraphy deserves special attention, not only in the religious sphere, but also in secular works.[61].
The figurative representations
Islamic art is often thought to be completely aniconic, however, numerous human and animal figures can be seen in ceramics. The religious images of the prophet Muhammad, Jesus and the Old Testament, as well as the imams "Iman (religion)"), also gave rise to representations that, depending on times and places, have their faces veiled or not. The question of figurative representation in Islam is still very complex today.[62].
Knowledge of the arts of Islam in the world
Historiography of Islamic art
Islamic art has long been known in Europe thanks to the numerous imports of precious materials (silk, rock crystal), which were made in medieval times. Many of these objects have become relics and are currently preserved in the church treasuries of the Western world.[63] However, the history of Islamic art as a science is a very recent discipline compared, for example, to that of other ancient arts. On the other hand, excavations of Islamic art have often been victims of archaeologists who, eager to quickly access the oldest levels, plundered the most modern levels.
Born in the century and promoted by the orientalist movement, this discipline evolved marked by many ups and downs, due to world political and religious events. Colonization, in particular, encouraged the study of some countries - as well as the emergence of European and American collections - but entire periods of history have been forgotten.[64] Likewise, the Cold War has considerably slowed down the study of the arts of Islam, preventing the dissemination of studies and discoveries.
Large collections of Islamic art
As is often the case, the great collections of Islamic art are rather in the Western world, in the Louvre Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum in particular. However, there are collections elsewhere, including those at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Egypt, or the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The Gulbenkian Lisbon Foundation and the Khalili Collection") also preserve numerous pieces. American museums, such as the Freer Gallery in Washington, have very important collections, both of objects and manuscripts. The Corning Museum of Glass in New York has one of the largest collections of Islamic glass in the world. As for manuscripts, we must point out large libraries such as the British Library or the National Library of France, whose oriental collections are quite complete although the museums also preserve illustrated pages and manuscripts.
Great archaeological sites of Islamic art
Much progress is being made in the study of the production of objects and the earliest Islamic architecture, especially in Iraq, Samarra or Susa or even in Cairo. Despite the current context, the main sites are being excavated throughout the Islamic world from Pakistan to the Maghreb.
• - Abbasid art refers to the artistic production that took place under this dynasty of caliphs until the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in Baghdad in the year 1055.
• - Islamic architecture.
• - Islamic painting.
• - Art of the Islamic Revolution.
In Spain
• - Hispanic-Muslim art.
• - Emiral and caliphal art: Muslim art from Spain from the time of the emirate and the caliphate of Córdoba.
• - Taifa art.
• - Almoravid art.
• - Almohad art.
• - Nasrid art.
• - Mudejar art.
* This article has been expanded with the help of a translation from the French Wikipedia [1].
• - Arts et civilizations de l'islam, sous la direction de Markus Hattstein et Peter Delius, Könemann, Cologne, 2000 ;.
• - Encyclopédie de l'islam, Brill, 1960 (2×10 edition) ;.
• - C.E. Bosworth, Les Dynasties Muslims, trans. Y. Thoraval, Actes sud, coll. «Sinbad», 1996;.
• - H. Stierlin, Islam: from Bagdad to Cordoue, des origines au XIII siècle, Taschen, 2002;.
• - S. Blair, J. Bloom, The art and architecture of Islam 1250-1800, Yale University Press, 1994 ;.
• - R. Ettinghausen, O. Grabar, M. Jenkins-Madina, Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250, Yale University Press, 2001 ;.
• - R. Hillenbrand, Islamic architecture : form, function and meaning, Edinburgh university press, 1994.
• - Introduction to the first Hispanic-Muslim art.
• - Département art islamic du Métropolitan Museum of Art.
• - A unitary art Archived June 10, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. in Alif Nûn No. 26, April 2005.
References
[1] ↑ Stierlin, Henri. La arquitectura islámica. París: PUF, 1993. p. 9 - 10.
[2] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. La arquitectura islámica, la forma, función y meaningNew York: Columbia University Press. p. 39.
[3] ↑ Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, col. Campos, 2000. p.105 - 107.
[4] ↑ Podemos considerar al arte islámico como una acumulación de estructuras y formas que señalan a los cuatro rincones del mundo conquistado. Grabar, Oleg. p. 296.
[5] ↑ Sophie Makariou (ed). Suse, terracota Islámica. Snoeck, 2005.
[6] ↑ Rosen Ayalon, Myriam. El arte islámico y Arqueología en Palestina. París: PUF, 2002.
[7] ↑ O. Grabar. La Cúpula de la Roca, jewelof Jerusalén. 1997.
[8] ↑ Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, col. Campos, 2000. p.72.
[9] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. Archiitecture Islámica, forma, función y meaningNew York: Columbia University Press, p. 20. Esta observación, sin embargo, podría ser rebatida por algunos trabajos recientes, y el plano de la Cúpula de la Roca podría tener su réplica en la Gran Mezquita de Kairuán, según la disposición de sus columnas y capiteles.
[10] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. Arquitectura islámica, forma, función y meaning New York: Columbia University Press, p. 384 - 390.Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, col. Campos, 2000. p. 193 - 236.
[11] ↑ Bernus-Taylor, Martha. "El arte de islam en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 456 - 457.
[13] ↑ "Si la producción de objetos artísticos durante los primeros ciento veinticinco años del periodo musulmán se discute mucho, es porque la cultura material cambió muy poco durante el primer siglo y cuarto después de la conquista musulmana "Grabar y Etinghausen,El arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. New Haven y Londres: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 39.
[14] ↑ En un país rico en tradiciones antiguas, frente al Mediterráneo, conectado por vías navegables (el Éufrates, y por tanto el Océano Índico) y rutas terrestres con el resto del mundo y el extremo Irán oriental, se yuxtaponen y entrelazan elementos cristianos, helenísticos y sasánidas que gradualmente produjeron un arte original. Bernus-Taylor, Martha. El arte del islam. París: RMN, 2001. p.9.
[15] ↑ Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval]. París: Flammarion, col. "Champs", 2000. p. 291 - 299.
[16] ↑ Ver diferentes publicaciones Alastair Narthedge, en particular: "Samarra", en Enciclopedia del islam. Brill, 2.ª edición. Comentarios a Samarra y la arqueología de las grandes ciudades. Antigüedad, en marzo de 2005.
[17] ↑ Herzfeld, Ernst. WanndschmuckDer von der Bauten Samarra. Berlín, 1923.
[18] ↑ Véase, por ejemplo, el panneau à l'oiseau stylisé AO 6023 en el Museo del Louvre.
[19] ↑ Grabar, Oleg; Ettinghausen, Richard. Arte islámico y la arquitectura 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 68 - 69.
[20] ↑ las relaciones con China en este momento son difíciles pero existen. La cerámica china se han encontrado en varios sitios como Suse y Siraf. Véase, por ejemplo Soustiel, Jean. La cerámica islámica. Friburgo, la oficina del libro, 1985.
[21] ↑ de acuerdo a la investigación de Monik Kervran, publicada en los cuadernos de la Delegación Arqueológica Francesa en Irán.
[22] ↑ Según Grube, las inscripciones sirven para reconocer las piezas en las distintas colecciones. Grube, Ernst J. Islamic Pottery of the Eight to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection. Londres, 1976.
[23] ↑ Para vidrio con brillo, ver Carboni, S. Glass of the sultans. [Expo. Corning, Nueva York, Atenas. 2001 - 2002] New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Dos de ellos datados en 772-773 y 779 fueron encontrados en las excavaciones de Scanlon en Fustat.
[24] ↑ Lane, Arthur. Early islamic pottery. Londres : Faber et Faber, 1947.
[25] ↑ Hasson, Rachel. Early Islamic Glass. Jerusalem. 1979.
[26] ↑ Carboni, S. Glass of the sultans. [Expo . Corning, New-York, Athènes. 2001 - 2002] New York : Metropolitan museum of art, 2001.
[27] ↑ Boswrth, Clifford Edmund. Las dinastías musulmanased. Yves Thoraval. Actes Sud, Ed. Sindbad, 1996. p. 37 - 48.
[28] ↑ Boswrth, Clifford Edmund. Las dinastías musulmanas ed. Yves Thoraval. Actes Sud, Ed. Sindbad, 1996. p. p. 49 - 71.
[29] ↑ [...] incluso esta forma de construcción se pone de manifiesto, entre el Ebro y el Duero, de 661 es la (iglesia de San Juan de Baños) [...]. Se puede afirmar que el origen del arco de herradura es anterior y se sitúa en plena época imperial romana. "Stierlin, Henri. El islam, desde Bagdad a Córdoba, de los orígenes, al siglo XIII Taschen, 2002. p. 113.
[32] ↑ El textil español se producen en talleres en los que la Realeza tienen un monopolio. Grabar, Oleg y Ettinghausen, Richard. Arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 97.
[33] ↑ Bernus Taylor, Martha. "El arte del islam". en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 513.
[34] ↑ Oleg Grabar y Ettinghausen, Richard. Arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 278.
[35] ↑ Sheila S. Blair; y Jonathan M. Bloom: El arte y la arquitectura del islam. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. págs. 114 a 123.
[36] ↑ Bernus-Taylor, Martha. "El arte de islam en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 498.
[37] ↑ Véase: Casanelli, Roberto (ed). El Mediterráneo de las cruzadas. Paris, Citadelles y Mazenod, 2000 y Trésors Fatimides du Caire. [Cat exp. Paris, Institut du monde arabe, 1998] Paris : Institut du monde arabe, 1998.
[38] ↑ Georges Tate: L'Orient des Croisades. París: Gallimard, coll. Découvertes Gallimard (n° 129), 1991, 2000, 2008.
[39] ↑ Marthe Bernus Taylor: Les arts de l’islam. París: RMN, 2001. p. 70. véase también L'Orient de Saladin, l'art des Ayyoubides [Cat Exp. Paris, Institut du monde arabe. 2001] Paris : Gallimard, 2001.
[40] ↑ varios miles de edificios se construyeron durante este período. Ver Blair, Sheila S & Bloom, Jonathan M.El arte y la arquitectura del islam, 1250 - 1800. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. p. 70 - 96.
[41] ↑ El mejor ejemplo de esta rara orientación en el islam es el plano de Takht-Sulayman.
[42] ↑ cf. página de la exhibition El legado de Genghis Khan Archivado el 26 de junio de 2007 en Wayback Machine., y el catálogo: Komaroff, Linda y Carboni, Stefano (eds). El legado de Genghis Khan: El arte y la cultura en Asia Occidental, 1256 - 1353. [Expo. Nueva York, Museo Metropolitano de Arte. 2002 - 2003; Los Angeles, Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. 2003]. Nueva York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.: http://www.lacma.org/khan/
[43] ↑ Oleg Grabar, y Richard Ettinghausen. El Arte islámico y la arquitectura, 650 - 1250. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 255.
[44] ↑ Se trata de una copia en seis volúmenes de Masnavi de Jalal al-Din Rumi, sin duda realizado en Konya y fechado en 1268 - 1269. Ettinghausen y Grabar. id. p. 257-258.
[45] ↑ Blair, Sheila S. y Bloom, Jonathan M.El arte y la arquitectura del islam, 1250 - 1800London y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. p. 132 - 148.
[46] ↑ Blair y Bloom,op. cit.p. 149 - 162.
[47] ↑ El arte islámico se basó inicialmente en la herencia de Bizancio y Persa para crear obras maestras, aunque siempre afirmando su especificidad, en primer lugar, a través de los patios con columnas en las mezquitas. Allí era donde se reunían los creyentes y adoptaban una disposición a lo ancho para la oración ritual, lo que dio lugar a la sala oblonga. Stierlin, Henri. El islam, desde Bagdad a Córdoba, los orígenes siglo XIII. Köln: Taschen, 2002. p. 228 - 229.
[48] ↑ El plano, de acuerdo a la investigación de Myriam Rosen Ayalon, se llevó a la práctica en la construcción de la Mezquita Al-Aqsa. Actualmente, la Mezquita de los Omeyas en Damasco es el arquetipo de este plano. Rosen Ayalon, Myriam. El arte islámico y Arqueología en Palestina. PUF, 2002. Hillenbrand, Robert. La arquitectura islámica. Forma, función y significado.New York: Colombia University Press, 1994. p. 69 - 70.
[49] ↑ Bernus Taylor, Martha. "El arte del islam en la Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam.París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 484 - 485.
[50] ↑ Hillenbrand, Robert. La arquitectura islámica. Forma, función y significado.New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. p. 100 - 114.
[51] ↑ Ese es particularmente el caso de la Mezquita de Córdoba, el palacio de Medina Azahara o la Alhambra de Granada. Cf Bernus Taylor, Martha. El arte del islam. La Edad Media, el cristianismo y el islam. París: Flammarion, 1996. p. 481 - 482.
[52] ↑ Goodwin, Godfrey. Historia de la arquitectura otomana. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1971.
[53] ↑ Blair, Sheila s. y Bloom, Jonathan M.El arte y la arquitectura del islam, 1250 - 1800. Londres y New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. p. 266 - 286.
[54] ↑ Para estos diferentes aspectos, véase Déroche, François (ed). Manual codicologyParis, 2000.
[56] ↑ Los objetos artísticos tuvieron gran consideración, tanto entre la corte como entre la burguesía urbana. Se nombran en segundo lugar después de los palacios en las citas de los textos, como signos externos de riqueza, y se ejerció un gran control sobre su producción. Grabar, Oleg. La formación del arte islámico. [Ed. Yves Thoraval] París: Flammarion, 2000 (2 ª ed.). p. 264.
[57] ↑ La condena de la idolatría desterró la escultura casi por completo en la práctica artística. Los leones del palacio de la Alhambra en Granada o las esculturas que adornan los capiteles de algunas mezquitas de Anatolia son, sin duda, excepciones. Naef, Silvia.¿Existe una cuestión de imagen en el islam? París: tetraedro, 2004.
[58] ↑ Se cree que fueron artistas bizantinos los que levantaron la Mezquita de los Omeyas en Damasco: cf. Ettinghausen, Richard y Grabar, Oleg. El arte islámico y la arquitectura.Londres y New Haven: Yale University Oress, p. 26. Del mismo modo, hay muchas obras que tienen iconografía cristiana, principalmente en Egipto y Siria.
[59] ↑ Extraña y maravillosa tierra del islam. Exposición en el Museo del Louvre el 23 de abril - 23 de julio de 2001] París: RMN, 2001. p. 176 - 179 en el Shahnameh.
[60] ↑ S. Blair, un compendio de crónicas: Rashid al-Din ilustra la historia del mundo, 1995.
[61] ↑ El islam, las artes . Encyclopaedi Universalis en. T. 9. París, 1968. p. 182 - 184.
[62] ↑ Ver Sylvia Naef: ¿Existe una cuestión de imagen en el islam?. París: Tétraèdres, 2004.
[63] ↑ En el Museo del Louvre: Artículos de lujo que ya pertenecían a la colección real francesa. La hermosa jarra de cristal de roca tallada en un taller en Egipto a principios del siglo XI, actualmente en el departamento de arte, fue ofrecida por Suger a la Abadía de Saint-Denis. Bernus-Taylor, Martha. El arte del islam Paris: RMN, 2001. Véase también los objetos del tesoro de San Marcos en Venecia:El Tesoro de San Marcos en Venecia. [expo de París, Grand Palais, 1984.] París: Reunión de Museos Nacionales, 1984.
[64] ↑ Esto es particularmente cierto en el caso del arte otomano tardío y Kaqjars, hoy en vías de redescubrimiento.
traditional techniques
Alhambra vessels
North African architecture is relatively unknown due to lack of research after decolonization. The Almoravid and Almohad dynasties are characterized by a search for austerity that is exemplified in mosques with bare walls. The Merinid and Hafside dynasties sponsored very important but little-known architecture and notable work in painted, carved and inlaid wood.[35].
The Fatimid dynasty, which is one of the few dynasties in the Shiite Islamic world, ruled Egypt between 909 and 1171. Born in Ifriqiya in 909, she arrived in Egypt in 969, where she founded the caliphal city of Cairo, north of Fustat, which remained an important economic center. This dynasty produced important religious and secular architecture, the remains of which include the mosques of al-Azhar and al-Hakim, and the walls of Cairo, built by the vizier al-Badr Jamali. It was also the origin of a rich production of art objects in a wide range of materials: wood, ivory, ceramics painted with bright enamel, silver, metal inlays, opaque glass, and above all, rock crystal. Many artists were Coptic Christians, as evidenced by the numerous works with Christian iconography.
[36] These constituted the majority religion during the particularly tolerant reign of the Fatimids. The art is characterized by a rich iconography, which greatly exploits the human and animal figure in animated representations, which tends to free itself from purely decorative elements, such as color spots on glazed ceramics. He was enriched, both stylistically and technically, through his contacts with the cultures of the Mediterranean basin, especially Byzantium. The Fatimid dynasty was also the only one that produced sculpture, often in bronze.[37].
At the same time, in Syria, the atabegs, that is, the Arab governors of the Seljuk princes, assumed power. Very independent, they relied on the enmity between the Turkish princes and largely helped the Frankish crusaders. In 1171, Saladin took Fatimid Egypt, and put the short-lived Ayyubid dynasty on the throne.[38]
This period was not very rich in architecture, which did not prevent the renovation and improvement of the defenses of the city of Cairo. The production of valuable objects did not stop. Ceramics painted with bright glazes and inlaid with high quality metal continued to be produced and enameled glass emerged from the last quarter of the century, as seen in a series of glasses and bottles from this period.[39].
The Mamluks seized power from the Ayyubids of Egypt in the year 1250 and settled in Syria in 1261, defeating the Mongols. They are not, strictly speaking, a dynasty, because sovereigns do not reign from father to son: in fact, the Mamluks are freed Turkish slaves, who (in theory) share power among fellow freedmen. This paradoxical government lasted almost three centuries, until 1517, and gave rise to an architecture very abundant in stone, composed of large complexes made for the sultans or emirs, especially in Cairo.[40] The decoration is made with inlays of stones of different colors, as well as with exquisite wood work that consisted of inlays of radiant geometric motifs made in marquetry. Enamel and glass were also used, and what is more important, metal inlays: the Baptistery of Saint Louis, one of the most famous Islamic objects, made by the master Muhammad ibn al-Zayn, dates from this period.
Under these little khans, originally subject to Emperor Yuan, but quickly becoming independent, a rich civilization developed. Architectural activity intensified as the Mongols became sedentary and continued to be more or less marked by the traditions of the nomads, as demonstrated by the north-south orientation of the buildings.[41] However, there is an important Persian influence and a return to already established traditions, such as the Iranian plan. The tomb of Oldjaïtou in Sultaniya") was one of the most impressive monuments in Iran, but unfortunately it is very deteriorated and almost destroyed. Also, during that dynasty, the art of the Persian book was born, in important manuscripts such as the Jami al-tawarikh") commissioned by the vizier Rashid al-Din").
New techniques appeared in ceramics, such as lajvardina, and Chinese influences are seen in all arts.[42].
The art of these nomads is very little known. Researchers, who are just beginning to become interested in them, have discovered that there was urban planning and architecture in these regions. An important goldsmith's work was also developed and most of his works show a strong Chinese influence. Preserved in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, they are just beginning to be studied.
It was the third invasion of the nomads, that of Tamerlane's troops, which founded the third great Iranian medieval period: that of the Timurids. The development in the century of this dynasty gave rise to the peak of Persian book art, with painters such as Behzad"), and many patrons. Persian architecture and urban planning, through monuments such as those of Samarkand, in particular, also experienced a golden age. The ceramic decoration and the muqarnas vaults are particularly impressive. There is a strong influence of book art and China in all other areas. It is, in part, the period Timurid who gave cohesion to Persian art, allowing it to flourish later in the great empire of the Sefavids.
Continuing their momentum, the Seljuk Turks continued their conquests into Anatolia. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 they formed a sultanate independent of their Iranian cousins. Their power seems to extend from 1243 until the Mongol invasions, but coins continued to be minted with their names until 1304. The architecture and objects synthesize the different styles of both Iran and Syria. The art of woodworking will produce masterpieces,[43] and we know of a single illustrated manuscript dating from that period.[44].
The Turkmens, who are nomads in the Lake Van region, are very little known. However, several mosques are known, such as the Blue Mosque of Tabriz, and they will have a decisive influence both in Anatolia, after the fall of the Seljoukids of Rum, and in Iran during the Timurid dynasty. Indeed, from the 19th century onwards, Anatolia was dominated by small Turkmen dynasties, which decided to gradually appropriate the Byzantine territories. Little by little a dynasty emerges: that of the Ottomans, the so-called "first Ottomans" before 1453. They sponsored above all architecture, where the unification of spaces is sought through the use of domes. In ceramics, the foundations were also laid for what would become Ottoman art proper with Miletus pottery and the first Anatolian blues and whites.[45].
India, conquered by the Ghaznavids and Gurids in the 19th century, did not become independent until the year 1206 when the Muizzî, or slave-kings, came to power, marking the birth of the Delhi Sultanate. Later, other competing sultanates emerged in Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, Jawnpur, Malwa and in the northern Deccan (Bahmanidas).
They gradually moved away from Persian traditions, giving birth to an original architecture and urban planning tinged with syncretism with Hindu art. The production of objects is little studied until now, but we know of an important art of the book.[46] The period of the sultanates ends with the arrival of the Mughals who little by little conquered the entire region.
traditional techniques
Alhambra vessels
North African architecture is relatively unknown due to lack of research after decolonization. The Almoravid and Almohad dynasties are characterized by a search for austerity that is exemplified in mosques with bare walls. The Merinid and Hafside dynasties sponsored very important but little-known architecture and notable work in painted, carved and inlaid wood.[35].
The Fatimid dynasty, which is one of the few dynasties in the Shiite Islamic world, ruled Egypt between 909 and 1171. Born in Ifriqiya in 909, she arrived in Egypt in 969, where she founded the caliphal city of Cairo, north of Fustat, which remained an important economic center. This dynasty produced important religious and secular architecture, the remains of which include the mosques of al-Azhar and al-Hakim, and the walls of Cairo, built by the vizier al-Badr Jamali. It was also the origin of a rich production of art objects in a wide range of materials: wood, ivory, ceramics painted with bright enamel, silver, metal inlays, opaque glass, and above all, rock crystal. Many artists were Coptic Christians, as evidenced by the numerous works with Christian iconography.
[36] These constituted the majority religion during the particularly tolerant reign of the Fatimids. The art is characterized by a rich iconography, which greatly exploits the human and animal figure in animated representations, which tends to free itself from purely decorative elements, such as color spots on glazed ceramics. He was enriched, both stylistically and technically, through his contacts with the cultures of the Mediterranean basin, especially Byzantium. The Fatimid dynasty was also the only one that produced sculpture, often in bronze.[37].
At the same time, in Syria, the atabegs, that is, the Arab governors of the Seljuk princes, assumed power. Very independent, they relied on the enmity between the Turkish princes and largely helped the Frankish crusaders. In 1171, Saladin took Fatimid Egypt, and put the short-lived Ayyubid dynasty on the throne.[38]
This period was not very rich in architecture, which did not prevent the renovation and improvement of the defenses of the city of Cairo. The production of valuable objects did not stop. Ceramics painted with bright glazes and inlaid with high quality metal continued to be produced and enameled glass emerged from the last quarter of the century, as seen in a series of glasses and bottles from this period.[39].
The Mamluks seized power from the Ayyubids of Egypt in the year 1250 and settled in Syria in 1261, defeating the Mongols. They are not, strictly speaking, a dynasty, because sovereigns do not reign from father to son: in fact, the Mamluks are freed Turkish slaves, who (in theory) share power among fellow freedmen. This paradoxical government lasted almost three centuries, until 1517, and gave rise to an architecture very abundant in stone, composed of large complexes made for the sultans or emirs, especially in Cairo.[40] The decoration is made with inlays of stones of different colors, as well as with exquisite wood work that consisted of inlays of radiant geometric motifs made in marquetry. Enamel and glass were also used, and what is more important, metal inlays: the Baptistery of Saint Louis, one of the most famous Islamic objects, made by the master Muhammad ibn al-Zayn, dates from this period.
Under these little khans, originally subject to Emperor Yuan, but quickly becoming independent, a rich civilization developed. Architectural activity intensified as the Mongols became sedentary and continued to be more or less marked by the traditions of the nomads, as demonstrated by the north-south orientation of the buildings.[41] However, there is an important Persian influence and a return to already established traditions, such as the Iranian plan. The tomb of Oldjaïtou in Sultaniya") was one of the most impressive monuments in Iran, but unfortunately it is very deteriorated and almost destroyed. Also, during that dynasty, the art of the Persian book was born, in important manuscripts such as the Jami al-tawarikh") commissioned by the vizier Rashid al-Din").
New techniques appeared in ceramics, such as lajvardina, and Chinese influences are seen in all arts.[42].
The art of these nomads is very little known. Researchers, who are just beginning to become interested in them, have discovered that there was urban planning and architecture in these regions. An important goldsmith's work was also developed and most of his works show a strong Chinese influence. Preserved in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, they are just beginning to be studied.
It was the third invasion of the nomads, that of Tamerlane's troops, which founded the third great Iranian medieval period: that of the Timurids. The development in the century of this dynasty gave rise to the peak of Persian book art, with painters such as Behzad"), and many patrons. Persian architecture and urban planning, through monuments such as those of Samarkand, in particular, also experienced a golden age. The ceramic decoration and the muqarnas vaults are particularly impressive. There is a strong influence of book art and China in all other areas. It is, in part, the period Timurid who gave cohesion to Persian art, allowing it to flourish later in the great empire of the Sefavids.
Continuing their momentum, the Seljuk Turks continued their conquests into Anatolia. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 they formed a sultanate independent of their Iranian cousins. Their power seems to extend from 1243 until the Mongol invasions, but coins continued to be minted with their names until 1304. The architecture and objects synthesize the different styles of both Iran and Syria. The art of woodworking will produce masterpieces,[43] and we know of a single illustrated manuscript dating from that period.[44].
The Turkmens, who are nomads in the Lake Van region, are very little known. However, several mosques are known, such as the Blue Mosque of Tabriz, and they will have a decisive influence both in Anatolia, after the fall of the Seljoukids of Rum, and in Iran during the Timurid dynasty. Indeed, from the 19th century onwards, Anatolia was dominated by small Turkmen dynasties, which decided to gradually appropriate the Byzantine territories. Little by little a dynasty emerges: that of the Ottomans, the so-called "first Ottomans" before 1453. They sponsored above all architecture, where the unification of spaces is sought through the use of domes. In ceramics, the foundations were also laid for what would become Ottoman art proper with Miletus pottery and the first Anatolian blues and whites.[45].
India, conquered by the Ghaznavids and Gurids in the 19th century, did not become independent until the year 1206 when the Muizzî, or slave-kings, came to power, marking the birth of the Delhi Sultanate. Later, other competing sultanates emerged in Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, Jawnpur, Malwa and in the northern Deccan (Bahmanidas).
They gradually moved away from Persian traditions, giving birth to an original architecture and urban planning tinged with syncretism with Hindu art. The production of objects is little studied until now, but we know of an important art of the book.[46] The period of the sultanates ends with the arrival of the Mughals who little by little conquered the entire region.