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Islamic Art Portable Arts
AP Art History Period:6
By: Becky Kaleem
Islamic Art – Main Ideas
is the only god – Islam is a monotheistic
religion
 Muhammad is the prophet of Allah
 Islam excepts former beliefs such as Christianity
and Judaism
 The word of Allah is written down in the holy
book of Islam, the Quran
 Allah
Main Ideas cont.
 Muslims
are forbidden to represent human figures,
therefore the most popular type of art is Calligraphy
– “the art of fine writing”
 Caliphs
ruled over the Islamic empires after the
death of Muhammad
 Calligraphy
= written in the Arabic language, also
known as the language of the Quran
Portable Arts
 Islamic
society was cosmopolitan (trade &
pilgrimages) – led to portable objects
 (8-17)
Griffin, Islamic
 Mediterranean, 11th cen.
 Bronze,
 Its
107 cm, Pisa
made of caste bronze &

is decorated with feathers,

scales & silk trappings
Griffin
 Islamic
metalworkers took on the techniques
of the Romans, Byzantines, and Sassanian
Persians
 Applies these methods to: incense burning &
water pitchers in bird forms
 The Griffin was probably Fatimid Egyptian
work & could’ve arrived from Pisan victories
 Decorations include animals in medallions and
bands embellished in Kufic lettering & scale
and circle patterns
Pen Box
 (8-18)
 Shazi.
 Brass
Pen Box, from Persia (Iran) or Afghanistan.
with inlaid silver, copper, and black organic
 material,
2’’
 Washington
 D.C.
Pen Box cont.
 Islamic
world was ruled by educated leaders who
often commissioned personalized containers
 These
containers were a symbol of their high
class & contained pens, ink, and blotting sand
 This
container belonged to Majd al-Mulk al-
Muzaffar, the grand vizier/chief minister of
Khurasan in the 13th century
Pen Box cont.
 The
box was cast, engraved, embossed, and
inlaid by an artist named Shazi who signed &
dated it in animated kufic.
 *This
is one of the earliest signed works in Islamic
art!*
 The
calligraphic inscriptions are enhanced by
scrolls, interlacing designs, + human & animal
figurines
Pen Box cont.
 The
animate & inanimate elements, all seem to
be engaged in lively conversation.
 Due to the severe shortage of silver in the 12th
century, this work was made on inlaid brass.
 Also
 has over
 twenty
 phrases
 about
 al-Mulk
 in naskhi
 Script
Bottle

(8-19). Bottle, from
Mid-14th century.
 Syria.
 Glass,
polychrome
 enamel,
x
and gold, 19 ½”
9 ¾”, Washington D.C.
Glass & the Bottle
 Glass
is considered the most ethereal or delicate of
materials because its made of sand and ash.
 It appeared about 4,000 years ago.
 Islamic glassmakers adapted earlier practices to
new forms. For instance, they applied enameled
decoration in gold and other colors.
 This tall enameled bottle shows those skills.
Glass & the Bottle cont.
 It
was made as one of the many objects given by
Mamluk rulers to the Rasulid rulers of Yemen
(southern Arabia).
 Either
that or else it was ordered by the Rasulids
from Mamluk workshops in Syria.
 It
has a large inscription naming & honoring a
Rasulid sultan in thuluth – a popular Mamluk
cursive script.
Glass & Bottle cont.
 The
five petaled red rosette is an insignia of the
Yemini dynasty.
 ***The Mamluk dynasty of Egypt was founded by
descendants of slave soldiers & they were the
ones that succeeded in defeating the Mongols in
the 13th century.
The Macy Jug

(8-20). The Macy Jug,
 from
Iran. Composite
 body
glazed, painted
 fritware
& incised with
 pierced
outer shell,
 5/8”
x 7 ¾”, New York
Ceramics, Lusterware, & the Macy
Jug
 Early
9th century, potters developed a new way to
create a lustrous surface on their ceramics.
 They
first applied a metallic pigment on top of
already fired & glazed vessels/tiles.
 With
another firing on low heat and less oxygen,
they produced a golden luster.
 The
finished lusterware looked like precious
metal.
Ceramics, Lusterware, & the Macy
Jug cont.
 Soon
enough potters began to use luster to paint
patterns using geometric designs, foliage, and animals
in various colors.
 Some
lusterware pieces are double-shell fritware, in
which an inner solid body is hidden beneath a
decorated outer shell.
 The
Macy Jug is a good example of this style. The deep
blue comes from cobalt & the turquiose from copper.
Double Shell – Fritware
 The
black underglaze-painted decoration has animals &
pairs of harpies & sphinxes set into an elaborate “waterweed” pattern.
 Fritware was
 used to make
 beads in
 ancient Egypt
 & could’ve been
 rediscovered
 there by
 Islam potters
 looking for
 something
 similar to Chinese
Porcelain.
Textiles & the Banner of Las Navas
de Tolosa

(8-21)
 Banner
 de
of Las Navas
Tolosa, detail of
 central
panel, from
 southern
 Silk
tapestry weave
 With
 (3.3

Spain.
gilt parchment,
x 2.2m). Spain.
Textiles & the Banner of Las Navas
de Tolosa cont.
 The
tradition of silk weaving passed from
Sassanian Persia to Islamic artisans in the early
Islamic period & was kept alive in Muslim Spain
 An
eight pointed star forms the center of a silk
and gold banner.
 The
calligraphic panels continue down the sides
and a second panel crosses the top.
Textiles & the Banner of Las Navas
de Tolosa cont.
 Eight
lobes with gold crescents & white inscribed
parchment medallions form the
 lower edge of the banner.
 The text says: “You shall
 believe in God and His
 Messenger … He will forgive you
 your sins & admit you to gardens
 underneath which rivers flow, &
 to dwelling places goodly in
 Gardens of Eden; that is the mighty
 Triumph.”
Textiles & the Banner of Las Navas
de Tolosa cont.
 The
gardens of paradise were recalled in the
designs of Persian and Turkish carpets.
 Elaborate
patterns appeared on Persian carpets as
early as the 7th century.
 This
banner was a trophy of the Christian king
Ferdinand III, who gave it to Las Hueglas, the
Cisterian convent outside Burgos.
 Burgos
is the capital city of Old Castile.
The Medallion Rug
(8-22)

 Medallion
 Star
rug, variant
Ushak style, Anatolia
 (modern
Turkey). 16th
 Century.
Wool, (313.7 x
 229.2
 Art
cm). The Saint Louis
Museum.
The Medallion Rug
 This
is a carpet from Ushak in western Anatolia.
 Large,
serrated quatrefoil medallions establish the
underlying star pattern but arabesques flow in every
direction.

This “infinite arabesque” (the pattern repeats infinitely
in all directions) is characteristic of Ushak carpets.
 Usually,
carpets were at least three times longer than
their width. – this one was possibly shortened
 Where
the box entitled “Technique: carpet making”
Manuscript Illumination and
Calligraphy
 The
art of producing books has always flourished
in Muslim societies because of the Koran.
 Islam’s
emphasis on studying the Koran created a
high level of literacy among women & men.
 Even
though books were made of paper (which
was costly), they were copied on many ranges of
subjects, from religious to secular.
 Libraries,
also associated with madrasas
Manuscript Illumination and
(religious educational
institution),
were
Calligraphy
cont.
donated or endowed by the educated elite.
 Books
made for royal patrons had luxurious
bindings & highly embellished pages.
 This
resulted in the workshop collaboration
between calligraphers and illustrators.
The Quran (Koran)
The Quran (Koran) cont.
 The
illuminators, or manuscript illustrators, of
Mamluk Egypt executed intricate non-figural
geometric designs for Korans.
 Geometric
& botanical ornamentation achieved
unknown luxury & mathematical complexity.
 Strict
underlying geometric organization
combined with luxurious all-over patterning.
The Quran (Koran) cont.
(8-23). Koran

frontispiece (right half

 of
two page spread),
 from
Cairo, Egypt. c.
 1368.
Ink, pigments, &
 gold
on paper, ( 61 x
 45.7
cm). National
 Library,
Cairo.
The Quran (Koran) cont.
 This
is a frontispiece originally paired with its mirror
image on the facing left page.
 The
design radiates from a sixteen-pointed starburst,
filling the central square.
 The
surrounding ovals & medallions are filled with
interlacing foliage and stylized flowers & serve as a
backdrop for the words.
 Designers
often worked in more than one medium.
Miniatures
 Along
with religious works, scribes also copied &
recopied famous secular texts such as scientific
treatises, manuals, fiction, poetry, etc.
 Painters
illustrated these books & they also
created individual small-scale paintings –
miniatures- that the wealthy collected.
 One
of the best royal centers of miniature painting
was at Heart in western Afghanistan.
Miniatures cont.
 This
school of painting & calligraphy was founded
under the patronage of the Turkic Timurid
dynasty.
 Prince
Baysonghur held court in Herat and
commissioned illuminated manuscripts.
 The
story of the Sassanian prince Bahram Gur
was told in poems known as Haft Paykar (seven
portraits) by the Persian poet Nizami.
Bahrum Gur and the Indian
Princess in Her Black Pavillion
(8-24). Bahrum
 Gur and the
 Indian Princess
 in Her Black
 Pavillion, copy of
 The 12th c. Haft
 Paykar of Nizami,
 Herat, Afghanistan.
 Timurid Period, c.
 1426. Watercolor &
 gold on paper,
 New York


Bahrum Gur and the Indian
Princess in Her Black Pavillion cont.
 The
painting illustrates the lyrical idealism that
characterizes the Timurid style.
 The
scene takes place at night (Bahram Gur
married seven princesses, one for each night of
the week).
 Its
night because the colors are clear & bright
without any shadows & there stars and the moon
with two candles in the pavillion.
Bahrum Gur and the Indian
Princess in Her Black Pavillion cont.
 The
black pavillion is represented with shades of gray
and the interior is decorated with blue tiles.
 Through
a central opening, a garden can be seen, & in
the foreground a stream of silver water runs into a silver
pool.
 The
viewpoint then shifts, the pavillion & tiled walls are
seen straight on whereas the pool, and bed are seen
from bird’s eye view.
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid Visits
the Turkish Bath
 (8-25).
Kamal al-Din
 Bihzad. The Caliph
 Harun al-Rashid Visits
 the Turkish Bath, from
 a copy of the 12th c.
 Khamsa of Nizami,
 Heart, Afghanistan c.
 1494. Ink and
 Pigments on paper,
 approx. 7 x 6”. The
 British Library, London.
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid
Visits the Turkish Bath cont.
 During
the 2nd half of the 15th century, Kamal al-Din
Bihzad was the leader of the Heart school.
 The
Safavids supplanted the Timurids & established
their capital at Tabriz, Persia.
 Bihzad
moved to Tabriz and slowly resumed his career
there.
 His
paintings of 1494 to show the Khamsa (Five
Poems), also written by Nizami, show his ability to
render human ability convincingly.
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid
Visits the Turkish Bath cont.
 He
set his scenes within complex, stage like
architectural spaces, stylized according to Timurid
conventions.
 This created a visual balance between activity,
and architecture.
 In this illumination, the bathhouse, its tiled
entrance leading to a high-ceilinged dressing
room with brick walls, provides the structuring
element.
 The blue door on the left leads to a room where
the Caliph is being groomed by his barber while
attendants bring water for his bath.
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
 After
the breakdown of Seljuk power in Anatolia,
another group of Muslim Turks seized power in the
north-western part of Anatolia.
 Known
as the Ottomans, they created an empire ruling
parts of Anatolia, Persia, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Arabia,
India, southeast Asia, etc.
 In
1453, they captured Constantinople (renaming it
Istanbul) & ended the Byzantine empire.
THE OTTOMANS
Architecture
 After
taking over Constantinople, the Ottoman rulers
converted the church of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
 The
church’s mosaics were destroyed & instead,
calligraphic disks with names of Allah, Muhammad, &
the early Caliphs were added.
 Inspired
by this Byzantine structure, Ottoman
architecture developed the domed, central-plan
mosque.
Architecture cont.
 Sinan
was an architect who began his career in
the army & was chief engineer during the
Ottoman campaign of Vienna.
 He
rose to a higher rank & became, in 1528, chief
architect for Suleyman, the 10th Ottoman sultan.
 Suleyman
sponsored a building program on a
very large scale.
Mosque of Sultan Selim

(8-26).
Sinan. Mosque of Sultan Selim, Edirne,

Tukey:

1568-
75.
Mosque of Sultan Selim cont.
 Sinan’s
best accomplishment was completed in 1579, a
mosque he designed in the capital of Edirne for
Suleyman’s son Selim II (1566-74).
 The
huge hemispheric dome atop of the mosque is
larger than the dome of the Hagia Sophia (over 102 ft.
in diameter).
 Dome
crowns a building of great complexity on the
exterior & complete adherence on the interior.
Mosque of Sultan Selim cont.
 Along
with the mosque, the complex also has a
madrasa & other educational buildings, baths, a burial
ground, hospital, and charity kitchens.
 Framed
by the vertical lines of four minarets & raised on
a platform, the Selimiye mosque dominated the skyline.
 The
minarets around the prayer hall are sleek with
fluted walls & needle-nosed spires. Also. only royal
mosques were allowed to have multiple minarets.
Interior of the Mosque
of Sultan Selim
• (8-27). Interior,
• Mosque of Sultan Selim.
Interior of the Mosque
of Sultan Selim cont.
 The
interior seems very much like Hagia Sophia’s: an
open expanse under a vast dome floating on a ring of light.
 However,
this mosque is true to the central-plan structure
and doesn’t have Hagia Sophia’s longitudinal pull from
entrance to sanctuary.
A
small fountain covered by a Muezzin (crier) platform
emphasizes the centralization & the mosque floor is
actually carpeted with rugs from patrons.
Interior of the Mosque
of Sultan Selim cont.
 The
arches supporting the dome spring from eight huge
piers (often called elephant feet).
 Smaller half domes between the piers define the
corners of a square.
 Windows at every level flood the interior’s cream
colored stone, restrained tile decoration, and softly
growing carpers with light.
 Sinan is known for more than 300 imperial commissions
and 124 large and small mosques.
Illuminated Manuscripts & Tugras
 Ottoman
painting can be characterized as an abstract
setting with realism in figures and details.
 The
Ottoman Turks in Anatolia adopted the style of the
Heart school for their miniatures, enhancing the decorated
aspects with an intensity of religious feeling.
 At
the Ottoman court of Sultan Suleyman in Constantinople,
the imperial workshops produced even more notable
illuminated manuscripts.
Illuminated Tugra of Sultan
Suleyman
 (8-28).
Illuminated
 Tugra of Sultan
 Suleyman, from
 Instanbul,
 Turkey. c.
 1555-60. Ink,
 Paint, and gold
 on paper,
 New York.

Illuminated Tugra of Sultan
Suleyman cont.
 Following
a practice begun by the Seljuks & Mamluks, the
Ottomans put calligraphy to another, political use,
developing the design of imperial ciphers (codes) –tugrasinto a special art form.
 Ottoman
tugras combined the ruler’s name with the title
khan (“lord”), his father’s name, & the motto “Eternally
victorious” into a monogram.
 It
symbolized the authority of the Sultan and a few select
officials who were given an emblem.
Illuminated Tugra of Sultan
Suleyman cont.
 Tugras
appeared on seals, coins, buildings, & official
documents called firmans, imperial edicts supplementing
Muslim law.
 This
particular tugra is from a document endowing an
institution in Jerusalem that was established by Suleyman’s
wife, Sultana Hurrem.
 Tugras
were drawn in black or blue with three long, vertical
strokes to the right of two concentric horizontal teardrops.
Illuminated Tugra of Sultan
Suleyman cont.
 Decorative
foliage patterns fill the space.
 Fill decoration become more naturalistic in later centuries,
spilled outside the emblem’s boundary lines.
 This oversized tugra required more than the usual skill to
create.
 The sweeping fluid line had to be drawn with perfect control
according to set proportions.
 The color scheme of the floral interlace may have been
inspired by Chinese blue & white ceramics.