Islamic Art includes visual art produced from the seventh century onwards by people living in areas inhabited by or ruled by Islamic cultural populations. Thus art is very difficult to define because it covers many lands and nations for about 1,400 years; it is not art that is specifically a religion, or a time, or place, or a medium like painting. A large area of ​​Islamic architecture is the subject of separate articles, leaving diverse fields such as calligraphy, painting, glass, pottery, and textile art such as carpets and embroidery.
The art of Islam is not at all limited to religious art, but it includes all the rich and diverse cultural arts of Islamic societies as well. This often includes secular elements and elements that are criticized, if not forbidden, by some Islamic theologians. Apart from the ever-present calligraphic inscriptions, especially religious art is less prominent in Islamic art than Western medieval art, with the exception of Islamic architecture in which the mosque and its surrounding complex are the most common heritage. Figurative paintings may include religious scenes, but usually in secular contexts such as palace walls or illuminated poetry books. Calligraphy and decoration of the Qur'an is an important aspect, but other religious art such as glass mosque lamps and other mosque equipment such as tiles (eg Girih tiles), wood and carpets usually have the same style and motif as contemporary secular art. , although with religious inscriptions even more prominent.
"Islamic art evolved from many sources: Roman, early Christian art, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic art and architecture, the influence of pre-Islamic Persian art in Solomon was very important: the Central Asian style was brought with a variety of nomadic attacks; "Although the whole concept of" Islamic art "has been criticized by some modern art historians, calling it a" figment "or" mirage ", the similarity between art produced at different times and places in the Islamic world, especially in the Golden Age of Islam, is enough to keep this term widely used by scholars.
There are recurring elements in Islamic art, such as the use of geometric flowers or vegetal designs in repetition known as arabesque. Arabic in Islamic art is often used to symbolize the transcendent, inseparable and infinite nature of God. The error in repetition may be deliberately introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce perfection, although this theory is disputed.
Usually, although not entirely, Islamic art has focused on drawing patterns, whether purely geometric or flowers, and Arabic calligraphy, not on numbers, as it is feared by many Muslims that the depiction of human form is idolatry and thus sinful against God, forbidden in Al Qur'an. Human depictions can be found in all eras of Islamic art, especially in the form of a more personal miniature, where their absence is rare. Human representation for worship purposes is considered idolatry and is strictly prohibited in some interpretations of Islamic law, known as sharia law. There are also many depictions of Muhammad, the main prophet of Islam, in the art of historical Islam. Small decorative figures of animals and humans, especially if they hunt animals, are found in secular pieces in many media from many periods, but portraiture develops slowly.
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Kaligrafi
Calligraphic design is ubiquitous in Islamic art, where, as in Europe in the Middle Ages, religious counsel, including the verses of the Qur'an, can be included in secular objects, especially coins, tiles and metals, and most of the miniature painted including some manuscripts, as do many buildings. The use of Islamic calligraphy in architecture expanded significantly beyond the Islamic domain; One noteworthy example is the use of Chinese calligraphy from the Arabic verses of the Qur'an at the Grand Mosque of Xi'an. Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions that record ownership or donation. Two of the major scripts involved are the symbolic scripts of kufic and naskh , which can be found adorning and enhance the visual appeal of walls and dome buildings, the sides of minbars, and metals. Islamic calligraphy in the form of paintings or sculptures is sometimes referred to as quranic art .
The Eastern Persian pottery from the ninth to the eleventh centuries was decorated with a very stylish inscription, called "epigraphic stuff," has been described as "perhaps the most delicate and sensitive of all Persian pottery". Large inscriptions made of tiles, sometimes with letters arising with reliefs, or cut backgrounds, are found in the interior and exterior of many important buildings. Complex carvings calligraphy also decorates the building. For much of the Islamic period, most coins show only letters, which are often very elegant despite their small size and nature of production. The Tughra or monogram of the Ottoman sultan is used extensively on official documents, with very intricate ornaments for the important ones. Another one sheet of calligraphy, designed for the album, may contain short poems, Qur'anic verses, or other texts.
The main language, all using Arabic script, is Arabic, always used for the verses of the Qur'an, Persian in the Persian world, especially for poetry, and Turkey, with Urdu appearing in later centuries. Calligraphy usually has a higher status than other artists.
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Painting
Although there has been a tradition of wall paintings, especially in the Persian world, the most sustainable and most developed form of painting in the Islamic world is a miniature in illuminated manuscripts, or later as a page to be included in a> muraqqa or miniature albums and calligraphy bound. The Persian miniature tradition has been dominant since about the 13th century, greatly influencing the miniature of the Ottoman Turks and the Mughal miniatures in India. Miniatures are primarily court arts, and since they are not publicly seen, it has been argued that the constraints on the depiction of human figures are much more relaxed, and indeed miniatures often contain small numbers in large numbers, and from single, 16th-century Portraits. Although these early surviving examples are now unusual, the human figurative art is a continuing tradition in the land of Islam in a secular context, especially some of the Umayyad Castle (c.660-750), and during the Abbasid Caliphate (c 749- 1258).
The largest commissions of the pictorial books are usually classical Persian poetry like the Shahnameh epic, although the Mughal and Ottoman both produce a luxurious manuscript of more recent history with the autobiography of Mughal emperors, and more purely military chronicles of Turkish conquest. Portrait of the ruler was developed in the 16th century, and later in Persia, then became very popular. Mughal portraits, usually in profile, are very finely illustrated in realist style, while the best is the vigorous Ottoman style. Thumbnail albums usually feature picnic scenes, individual portraits or (especially in India) animals, or idealized young beauty of any gender.
Chinese influences include the early adoption of a natural vertical format for a book, leading to the development of a bird-eye view in which a very careful landscape or landscape of the palace landscape is drawn up to leave only a small area in the sky. These numbers are arranged in various fields in the background, with recessions (distance from the viewer) shown by placing far higher numbers in space, but essentially the same size. The colors, which are often well preserved, are very contrasting, bright and clear. The tradition reached its climax in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, but continued into the early nineteenth century, and has been revived on the 20th.
Carpet and carpet
There is no Islamic artistic product that becomes better known outside the Islamic world than carpets, more commonly referred to as Oriental carpets (oriental rugs). Their versatility is used in everyday Islamic and Muslim life, from floor coverings to architectural enrichment, from pillows to bolsters to bags and sacks of various shapes and sizes, and religious objects (such as prayer rugs, which will provide a clean place for pray). They have been a major export to other regions since the late Middle Ages, used to cover not only the floor but the old, extensive European practice table which is now only common in the Netherlands. Carpet weave is a rich and deeply embedded tradition in Islamic society, and this practice is seen in the factories of big cities as well as in rural communities and nomadic camps. In the preceding period, special establishments and workshops exist that function directly under the protection of the courts.
The very early Islamic carpet, which was before the 16th century, is very rare. More survivors in the West and oriental carpets in Renaissance paintings from Europe are the primary source of information about them, as they are precious imports that are accurately painted. The most natural and easy design to make carpet weavers consists of straight lines and edges, and the earliest Islamic carpets to survive or featured in the paintings have geometric designs, or centered on very stylish animals, made in this way. Since the loops and indentations that flow from arabesque are centers of Islamic art, the interplay and tension between these two styles is a key feature of carpet design.
There are some that are left of Egyptian 16th-century carpets, including those almost as recently discovered in the Pitti Palace attic in Florence, which has the intricate patterns of octagonal spheres and stars, in only a few colors, glittering before the viewer. The production of this stylish rug began under the Mamluk but continued after the Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt. Another sophisticated tradition is the Persian carpet that culminated in the 16th century and early 17th century in works such as the Ardabil Carpet and Coronation Carpet; During this century, Ottoman and Mughal palaces also began sponsoring the making in the domain of large formal carpets, evident with the involvement of designers who were accustomed to the latest court style in the general Persian tradition. It uses design styles that are shared with non-figurative illuminations of Islam and other media, often with large motifs, and always with wide and very limited boundaries. The grand design of court-protected workshops spread to smaller rugs for only rich and for export, and designs approaching the 16th and 17th centuries are still being produced in large numbers today. Old carpet descriptions tend to use the names of carpet-making centers as labels, but often come from designs rather than tangible evidence that they are from around the center. Research has clarified that designs are not always confined to centers they have traditionally been associated with, and the origins of many carpets remain unclear.
As well as the main Persian, Turkish and Arabian centers, carpets are also made in Central Asia, in India, and in Spain and the Balkans. The Spanish carpets, which sometimes interfere with typical Islamic patterns to include insignia, enjoy high prestige in Europe, commissioned by nobles and for the Pontifical Palace, Avignon, and industry continued after the Reconquista. Armenian carpeting is mentioned by many early sources, and probably explains a much larger proportion of the production of Eastern Turkey and Caucasian than traditionally predicted. Berber carpets in North Africa have different design traditions. Regardless of the city's workshop products, which deal with trade networks that may bring carpets to distant markets, there are also large villages and vast villages and nomadic industries that produce jobs that remain close to traditional local designs. As well as carpets, slippers and other types of flat or embroidered textiles are manufactured, for use on floors and walls. Figurative designs, sometimes with large human figures, are very popular in Islamic countries but are relatively rarely exported to the West, where abstract design is generally what the market expects.
Ceramics
Islamic art has a very prominent achievement in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for walls, which in the absence of frescoes are taken to an altitude unmatched by any other culture. Early pottery is often without glaze, but the tin-opacified glaze is one of the earliest technologies developed by Islamic artisans. The first opaque glaze can be found as a blue-painted device in Basra, around the 8th century. Another important contribution is the development of stonepaste ceramics, dating from the 9th century Iraq. The first industrial complex for glass and pottery production was built in Raqqa, Syria, in the 8th century. Other centers for innovative pottery in the Islamic world include Fustat (from 975 to 1075), Damascus (from 1100 to about 1600) and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550). Colorful Lusterwares may have continued the pre-Islamic and Byzantine Roman techniques, but either created or greatly developed on pottery and glass in Persia and Syria from the 9th century onwards.
Islamic pottery is often influenced by Chinese ceramics, whose performance is highly admired and emulated. This was especially the case in the period after the Mongol invasions and the people of the Eastids. Techniques, shapes and decorative motifs are all affected. Until the Early Modern period, Western ceramics had very little effect, but Islamic pottery is highly sought after in Europe, and is often copied. An example of this is albarello, a kind of clay maiolica clay that was originally designed to store pharmacist ointments and dried medicines. The development of this type of pharmaceutical jars has its roots in the Islamic Middle East. Examples of Hispano-Moresque are exported to Italy, stimulating the earliest Italian examples, from the 15th century Florence.
Hispano-Moresque style appeared in Al-Andaluz or Spanish Muslims in the 8th century, under Egyptian influence, but most of the best production was much later, by authors who allegedly were mostly Muslims but worked in areas recaptured by the Christian empire. It blends elements of Islam and Europe in its design, and is widely exported to adjacent European countries. It has introduced two ceramic techniques to Europe: glaze with opaque white tin glazes, and paintings in glittering liquid. Ottoman? Znik pottery produced most of the best work in the 16th century, on tiles and large ships dotted with floral motifs influenced, again, by Chinese Yuan and Ming ceramics. It's still in pottery; no porcelain was made in Islamic countries until modern times, although Chinese porcelain was imported and admired.
The medieval Islamic world also had pottery with images of animals and humans painted. Examples are found throughout the medieval Islamic world, especially in Persia and Egypt.
Tiling
The earliest major Islamic buildings, such as the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem have interior walls decorated with mosaics in Byzantine style, but without human figures. From the 9th century onwards, the distinctive Islamic tradition of shiny and brightly colored tiles for exterior and exterior walls and dome was developed. Some previous schemes make designs using a mixture of tiles of each single color that are either cut to shape or small and some shapes, used to create abstract geometric patterns. Then a large painted scheme using painted tiles before firing with part of the scheme - a technique that requires confidence in consistent combustion results.
Some elements, especially letters of inscriptions, can be printed in three-dimensional reliefs, and especially in Persia, certain tiles in the design may have figurative paintings of animals or single human figures. These are often part of a design consisting mostly of tiles in plain colors but with fully painted tiles at larger intervals. Larger tiles are often shaped as eight-pointed stars, and may indicate animal or human or breast heads, or other plants or motifs. Geometric patterns, like modern North African zellige works, are made of small tiles of each single color but different and regular shapes, often referred to as "mosaics", which are not entirely true.
The Mughal makes less use of tiles, preferring (and being able to buy) "curry parchin", a kind of pietra dura decoration from an ornamental panel of semi-precious stones, with gems in some cases. This can be seen in the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and other imperial commissions. The motive is usually floral, with a simpler and more realistic style than Persian or Turkish works, related to plants in Mughal miniatures.
Glass
For the most part Medieval Islamic glass is the most sophisticated in Eurasia, exported to Europe and China. Islam took over most of the traditional glass-producing region of Sassanian and Ancient Roman glass, and because the figurative decoration played a small part in pre-Islamic glass, the style change was not abrupt, except that the whole region initially shaped the whole of politics. , and, for example, Persian innovation is now almost immediately taken in Egypt. For this reason it is often impossible to distinguish between various production centers, where Egypt, Syria and Persia are of the utmost importance, except with the scientific analysis of the material, which has its own difficulties. From various documentary references to glass making and glass trade seems to be a specialization of Jewish minorities in several centers.
Between the 8th and early 11th centuries the emphasis on luxurious glass was on the effect achieved by "manipulating surfaces" of glass, initially by incised onto glass on wheels, and then by cutting the background to leave the relief design. Hedwig's massive eyeglasses, found only in Europe, but usually considered Islamic (or perhaps from Muslim craftsmen in Norman Sicily), are examples of this, though confusing at the time. These and other pieces of glass may represent a cheaper version of the carved stone crystal vessels (clear quartz), themselves influenced by previous glass vessels, and there is some evidence that during this period glass cutting and hard stone carvings were considered to be the same craft. From the 12th century the industries in Persia and Mesopotamia seem to decline, and the main production of luxury glass shifts to Egypt and Syria, and the colorful decorative effects on smooth surface glass. Throughout the period the local centers made simple items such as the Hebron glass in Palestine.
The luster, with a technique similar to lustreware in pottery, dates from the 8th century in Egypt, and extends in the 12th century. Another technique is decoration with glass yarns of different colors, working to the main surface, and sometimes manipulated with combing and other effects. Gilded, painted and enameled glass is added to the repertoire, and shapes and motifs are borrowed from other media, such as pottery and metal. Some of the best works are in mosque lights donated by a ruler or a rich man. As decorations grow more complicated, the quality of base glass decreases, and "often has a brownish yellow tinge, and is rarely free of bubbles". Aleppo seems to have ceased to be a major center after the Mongol invasion in 1260, and the East seems to have ended the Syrian industry around 1400 by bringing skilled workers to Samarkand. About 1500 Venetians receive large orders for mosque lights.
Metalwork
Medieval Islamic Metal offers a complete contrast to its European equivalents, dominated by brightly colored model and decoration figures in enamel, some of which are entirely of precious metal. In contrast the metal still alive of metals consists of practical objects especially in brass, bronze, and steel, with simple, but often monumental, shapes, and surfaces heavily adorned with bushy ornaments in various techniques, but the colors are largely confined to the inlay gold, silver, copper or niello black. The most abundant survival of the medieval period was the fine brass objects, handsome enough to be preserved, but not worth enough to melt. The local zinc source is abundant compared to tin explaining the scarcity of bronze. Household items, such as ewers or water jars, are made of one or more pieces of brass sheets soldered together and then worked and decorated.
The use of drinking and eating ships in gold and silver, which were ideal in ancient Rome and Persia as well as medieval Christian society, were forbidden by Hadith, such as wearing gold rings. One thing that Indonesian metalworkers do with Europeans is their high social standing compared to other artists and craftsmen, and many larger pieces are signed.
Islamic works include some three-dimensional animal figures as fountains or aquamaniles, but only one significant enamel object is known, using the Byzantine cloisonne technique. Pisa Griffin is the largest surviving bronze animal, probably from the 11th century Al-Andaluz. The more common objects are given intricate decorations including very low low candles and standing lamps, lantern lamps, bowls, plates, basins, buckets (this may be for bathing), and ewers, as well as coffins, pen-cases and placards. Ewers and basins were brought in to wash hands before and after meals, so often shown pieces of display. A typical 13th century ewer from Khorasan is decorated with leaves, animals and Zodiac Signs in silver and copper, and brings blessings. Special objects include knives, weapons and armor (always attract elites) and scientific instruments such as astrolabes, as well as jewelry. Decorations are usually solid and very often include arabesque and calligraphy, sometimes naming the owner and giving dates.
Other applied art
High levels of achievement are achieved in other materials, including gemstone carving and jewelry, ivory carvings, textiles, and leather crafts. During the Middle Ages, Islamic work in this field was highly regarded in other parts of the world and often traded outside the Islamic zone. Apart from miniature paintings and calligraphy, the other art of the book is decorative lighting, the only type found in the text of the Qur'an, and the cover of Islamic books, often very decorative in extravagant manuscripts, using one of the geometric motifs found in illuminations , or sometimes a figurative image may be taken for craftsmen by miniature painters. Materials include colored leather, tools and stamped and lacquers on the paint.
Precious stones
Egyptian crystal stone carvings into the vessels appeared at the end of the 10th century, and almost disappeared after about 1040. There are a number of these ships in the West, who seem to come to the market after the palace of Fatimid Khalifah Cairo was looted by it. mercenaries in 1062, and snapped up by European buyers, mostly ending up in the treasury of the church. From subsequent periods, especially the enormously wealthy Ottoman and Mughal palaces, there were many luxurious objects carved into semi-precious stones, with little ornate surfaces, but inserted with gems. Such objects may have been made in the previous period, but few survived.
House and furnishings
Older wooden carvings are usually reliefs or piercings on flat objects for architectural use, such as screens, doors, roofs, beams and friezes. Important exceptions are complex muqarnas and mocÃÆ'¡rabe designs that provide roofs and other architectural elements such as stalactite appearance. These are often in wood, sometimes painted on wood but often plastered over before painting; examples at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain is one of the most famous. Traditional Islamic furnishings, excepting crates, tend to be covered with cushions, with cabinets and not storage cabinets, but there are several parts, including a low (rigid two-sided) round table about 1560 from the Ottoman palace, with marquetry inlays in light wood, and one tile large ceramic or plaque on the table. Typical good inlays of Ottoman court furniture may have been developed from the styles and techniques used in weapons and musical instruments, which is where the best available skills are used. There are also elaborate crates and trunks adorned from various periods. The spectacular and famous roof (and far from flat) is one of the Islamic components of the 12th-century Norman Cappella Palatina in Palermo, which takes from the best elements of Catholic, Byzantine and Islamic art. Another famous wooden roof is at the Alhambra in Granada.
Ivory
The ivory carving is centered in the Mediterranean, spreading from Egypt, where the burgeoning Coptic industry is inherited; Persian rare ivory. Normal style feels relieved with flat surfaces; some pieces are painted. Spain specializes in coffins and round boxes, which may be used to store jewelry and perfumes. They are manufactured primarily in the estimated period of 930-1050, and are widely exported. Many pieces are signed and dated, and in court pieces of the owner's name are often written; they are usually a gift from a ruler. As well as court workshops, Cordoba has a commercial workshop that produces goods of slightly lower quality. In the 12th and 13th centuries workshops in Norman, Sicily produced a coffin, which later migrated to Granada and elsewhere after the persecution. Egyptian jobs tend to be on flat panels and friezes, for insertion into wood and possibly furniture - most now regardless of their arrangement. Many are calligraphy, and others continue the tradition of Byzantine hunting, with arabesque and foliage backgrounds in both cases.
Silk
Despite the hadith of hadith against the use of sutras, the Byzantine and Sassani traditions of large silk weaving fabric continue under Islam. Some designs are calligraphy, especially when made for palls to cover a tomb, but more surprising the conservative version of the previous tradition, with many great animal figures, especially the glorious symbols of power such as lions and eagles. It is often enclosed in a spherical form, as found in pre-Islamic traditions. The majority of the early sutras have been found from the tombs, and in European relics, where relics are often wrapped in silk. European clergy and nobles were very interested in the buyers of Islamic sutras from the earliest dates and, for example, Toul's early bishops' body in France wrapped in silk from the Bukhara region of modern Uzbekistan, perhaps when the body was buried again in 820 The St. Josse Shroud is a famous samite cloth from the eastern Persia, which originally had a carpet-like design with two pairs of elephants confronted, surrounded by borders including camel rows and inscriptions in Kufic texts, from which dates appeared before 961. Other sutras were used for clothing, ornaments, altarcloths, and church robes , which is almost all gone, except for some robes.
The Ottoman sutra is poorly exported, and many surviving kaftans of the kingdom have simpler geometric patterns, many of which feature stylish "tiger lines" beneath three balls or circles. Other silks have leaf designs similar to those in pottery or Iznik carpets, with the band forming an ogival compartment as a popular motif. Some designs began to show Italian influence. In the 16th century Persian sutras used smaller patterns, many of which showed scenes of relaxed parks of beautiful boys and girls from the same world as in contemporary miniature albums, and occasionally scenes- identifiable scenes of Persian poetry. The 16th-century circular ceiling for a tent, 97cm long, shows a continuous and dense hunting landscape; it was apparently plundered by Suleiman the Great's army in the Persian invasion of 1543-45, before being taken by a Polish general at the Siege of Vienna in 1683. The Mughal Sutra incorporated many Indian elements, and often displayed relatively realistic portraits. "plants, as found in other media.
Indonesian Batik
The development and refinement of Indonesian cloth batik is closely related to Islam. The banning of Islam on certain images encouraged batik design to be more abstract and complex. Realistic animal and human depictions are rare in traditional batik . However, the mythical snake, the man with excessive features and the Garuda of pre-Islamic mythology is a common motif.
Although its existence existed before Islam, batik reached its peak in the Muslim royal palaces such as Mataram and Yogyakarta, which the sultans encouraged and supported batik production . Today, batik is experiencing a revival, and cloth is used for additional purposes such as wrapping the Quran.
History
Beginning
Pre-dinastic
The period of rapid expansion of the Islamic era forms a fairly accurate beginning to label Islamic art. The early geographical boundaries of Islamic culture are in Syria today. It is very difficult to distinguish early Islamic objects from their predecessors in Persian or Sassanid and Byzantine art, and the mass conversion of the population, including artists, took a significant period, sometimes centuries, after the initial Muslim conquest. There is, in particular, significant production of the glazeless ceramics, witnessed by a well-known small bowl preserved in the Louvre, whose inscriptions ensure attribution to the Islamic period. The crop motif is the most important in this early production.
The influence of the Sassanian art tradition includes the image of the king as a soldier and a lion as a symbol of nobility and virility. The Bedouin tradition mixes with the more sophisticated style of the conquered territory. For the earliest period, coins had human figures in Byzantine and Sassanian styles, perhaps to convince users of their sustained value, before the Islamic style with the letters simply took over.
Umayyah
Religious and civil architecture was developed under the Umayyads (661-750), when new concepts and new plans were put into practice.
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most important buildings in all Islamic architecture, characterized by a strong Byzantine influence (a mosaic with a golden background, and a central plan reminiscent of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher), but already containing pure elements of Islam, like the grand epigraphic decorations. The desert palaces of Jordan and Syria (eg, Mshatta, Qasr Amra, and Khirbat al-Mafjar) serve caliphs as residences, reception rooms, and baths, and decorated, including some frescoes, to promote the image of royal luxury.
Work on ceramics is still somewhat primitive (without glaze) during this period. Some metal objects have survived since this time, but it remains rather difficult to distinguish these objects from those in the pre-Islamic period.
'Abd al-Malik introduces a standard currency that displays Arabic script, not the king's image. The rapid development of local currency around the construction time of the Dome of the Rock shows the reorientation of Umayyad acculturation. This period sees the origins of art especially Islamic.
In this period, Umayyad artists and craftsmen did not invent a new vocabulary, but began to prefer being received from the Mediterranean and ancient Iran, which they adapted to their own artistic concepts. For example, the mosaics at Damascus Great Mosque are based on the Byzantine model, but replace the figurative elements with images of trees and cities. Desert palaces also bear witness to these influences. By incorporating the traditions they have inherited, and by reinforcing architectural motives and elements, artists create little by little distinctive Muslim art, especially those seen in arabesque aesthetics, which appear both in monuments and in the shining Qur'an.
Abbasiyah
The Abbasid dynasty (750 AD - 1258) witnessed the movement of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, and then from Baghdad to Samarra. The shift to Baghdad influenced politics, culture, and art. The art historian Robert Hillenbrand (1999) likened the movement to the foundation of "Roman Rome", because the meeting of Eastern influences from Iranian, Eurasian, Chinese and Indian sources created a new paradigm for Islamic art. The classical form inherited from European Byzantine and Greco-Roman sources is disposed of for those taken from the new Islamic center. Even the design of the city of Baghdad puts it in the "navel of the world", as written by the 9th century historian al-Ya'qubi.
The ancient city of Baghdad can not be well dug, as it lies beneath the modern city. However, Abbasid Samarra, largely abandoned, has been well studied, and is known for surviving examples of stucco reliefs, where arabesque prehistory can be traced. The familiar motif of the stucco in Samarra allows for the dating of structures built elsewhere, and subsequently found on portable objects, especially in wood, from Egypt to Iran.
Samarra witnessed the "coming of age" of Islamic art. Polychrome painted plaster is allowed for experiments in new style of mold and engraving. The Abbasid Period also coincides with two major innovations in ceramic art: faience discovery, and metallic lusterware. The prohibition of the Hadith from the use of gold or silver vessels led to the development of metal lusterware in pottery, which was made by mixing sulfur and metal oxide for ocher and vinegar, painted into a shiny vessel and then shot for a second time. It is expensive, and it is difficult to set the second round through the kiln, but the desire to exceed the good Chinese porcelain has led to the development of this technique.
Although the general perception of Abbasid artistic production is largely focused on pottery, the greatest development of the Abbasid period is in textiles. Government-run workshops known as tiraz produce sutras bearing the name of the king, allowing the aristocrats to show their allegiance to the ruler. Other silk pictorial. The utility of silk items in wall decoration, entrance decoration, and room separation is not as important as the value of cash along the "silk route".
Calligraphy began to be used in decorating surfaces on pottery during this period. The illuminated Qur'an receives attention, the forms of the letters are now more elaborate and stylish until it slows the recognition of the words themselves.
Middle Ages (9th-15th century)
Beginning in the 9th century, Abbasid sovereignty was fought over in the most remote provinces removed from the center of Iraq. The creation of a Shi'i dynasty, which of the Fatimidans of North Africa, followed by the Umayyads in Spain, gave power to this opposition, as well as a small dynasty and an autonomous governor in Iran.
Spanish and Maghreb
The first Islamic dynasty founded in Spain (or al-Andalus) is the Spanish Umayyad. As indicated by their name, they were descended from the great Umayyad of Syria. After their fall, the Spanish Umayyads were replaced by various autonomous kingdoms, taifas (1031-91), but the artistic production of this period did not differ significantly from what happened during the Umayyad period. By the end of the 11th century, two Berber tribes, Almoravids and Almohads, captured the heads of Maghreb and Spain, successively, brought Maghrebi's influence into art. A series of military victories by Christian kings have reduced Spanish Islam in the late 14th century to the city of Granada, ruled by the dynasty of Nasirid, who managed to retain their power until 1492.
Al-Andalus was a major cultural center of the Middle Ages. In addition to the major universities, which teach unfamiliar philosophy and science in the Christian world (such as Averroes), the region is also an equally important center of art.
Many techniques are used in the manufacture of objects. Ivory is widely used for making boxes and caskets. Pyxis al-Mughira is the main work of this genre. In metal works, the large sculptures around him, which are usually somewhat rare in the Islamic world, serve as an intricate container for water or as a fountain. A large number of textiles, especially silk, are exported: many are found in the treasury of the church in the Christian world, where they serve as a cover for the storage of saints. From the period of Maghrebi rule, one can also feel the taste of painted and sculpted wood.
The art of North Africa is not well studied. Almoravid and Almohad dynasties are characterized by a tendency toward austerity, for example in mosques with bare walls. Nevertheless, luxury art continues to be produced in large quantities. The Marinids and Hafsid dynasties developed an important, but poorly understood, architecture and a large number of painted and sculpted wood.
Arab Mashriq
The Fatimid dynasty, ruling in Egypt from 909 and 1171, introduced the craft and knowledge of politically troubled Baghdad to Cairo.
In 1070, the Seljuks emerged as the dominant political force in the Muslim world after they liberated Baghdad and defeated the Byzantines in Manzikert. During the reign of Malik Shah, Seljuk excelled in architecture at the same time in Syria, the atabeg (governor of the Seljuk prince) took power. Quite independent, they used conflict with Frank's crusaders. In 1171 Saladin captured the Fatimid of Egypt, and installed the Ayyubid dynasty on the throne. This period is essential for innovation in metallurgy and the extensive manufacture of steel sabers of Damascus and daggers and the production of high quality ceramics, glass and metal are produced without interruption, and enameled glass becomes another crucial craft.
In 1250, the Mamluks controlled Egypt from Ayyubi, and in 1261 managed to assert themselves in Syria as well as their most famous ruler was Baibars. Mamluks are not, strictly speaking, a dynasty, because they do not maintain a patrilineal succession; In fact, the Mamluks were liberated Turkish and Caucasian slaves, who (in theory) handed over power to others like stations. This mode of government lasted for three centuries, up to 1517, and led to abundant architectural projects (thousands of buildings built during this period), while luxurious art protection is preferred especially enamel and metal glass, and is remembered as a golden age. from medieval Egypt. The "BaptistÃÆ'¨re de Saint-Louis" in the Louvre is an example of a very high quality metal in this period.
Iran and Central Asia
In Iran and northern India, Tahirids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids fought for power in the 10th century, and art was an important element of this competition. Major cities were built, such as Nishapur and Ghazni, and the construction of Isfahan Grand Mosque (which will continue, ready and start, for several centuries) begin. Funeral architecture is also cultivated, while pottery develops a fairly individualized style: kaleidoscope ornaments in yellow soil; or marble decorations made by allowing colored glazes to run; or paint with several layers of slip under the glaze.
The Seljuqs, a Turkish nomad from today's Mongolia, appeared on the stage of Islamic history towards the end of the 10th century. They captured Baghdad in 1048, before dying in 1194 in Iran, although the production of "Seljuq" continued throughout the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries under the auspices of smaller independent rulers and patrons. During their time, the center of culture, politics and art production shifted from Damascus and Baghdad to Merv, Nishapur, Rayy, and Isfahan, all in Iran.
The popular protection was expanded due to the economic growth and wealth of the new city. The inscriptions in architecture tend to focus more on the cut patrons. For example, sultans, viziers or low-level officials will receive frequent mention in inscriptions in mosques. Meanwhile, growth in mass market production and art sales makes it more common and accessible to traders and professionals. Due to the increase in production, many of the surviving survivors of the Seljuk era and can be easily dated. In contrast, the dating of previous works is more ambiguous. Therefore, it is easy to mistaken Seljuk art as a new development rather than the heritage of the classical sources of Iran and Turkey.
The ceramic innovations of this period include the production of minar ware and shipbuilding, not out of clay, but out of the silicon paste ("fritware"), while metal craftsmen began to bronze with precious metal. Across the Seljuk era, from Iran to Iraq, the unification of book paintings can be seen. These paintings have animal figures who convey a strong symbolic meaning of loyalty, betrayal, and courage.
During the 13th century, the Mongols under Genghis Khan's leadership swept the Islamic world. After his death, his empire was divided among his sons, forming many dynasties: the Yuan in China, Ilkhanids in Iran and the Golden Horde in northern Iran and southern Russia.
Ilkhanids
A rich civilization developed under this "small clan," which was initially subject to the Yuan emperor, but quickly became independent. Architectural activity intensified as the Mongols became dormant, and maintained their mark of nomadic origins, such as north-south orientation of buildings. At the same time, the process of "iranisation" takes place, and construction in accordance with pre-existing types, such as the mosque "plan of Iran", continued. The art of Persian books was also born under this dynasty, and was driven by the aristocratic patronage of the great manuscripts such as Jami 'al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani. New techniques in ceramics emerged, such as lajvardina (variations in the luster), and Chinese influence seen in all art.
Golden Horde and Eastids
The early art of the Golden Horde nomads was poorly understood. Research has just begun, and evidence for city planning and architecture has been found. There is also a significant production of golden works, often showing strong Chinese influence. Much of this work is stored today at the Hermitage.
The beginning of the third great period of medieval Iranian art, the Eastids, is marked by the invasion of the third nomadic group, under the direction of the East. During the 15th century, this dynasty spawned a golden age in Persian manuscripts, including famous painters such as Kamud, Behz? D, but also many workshops and customers. Syria, Iraq, Anatolia
Turkey Seljuq pushed beyond Iran to Anatolia, winning victory over the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Manzikert (1071), and establishing an independent sultanate from the Iranian dynasty branch. Their strength appears to have diminished after the Mongol invasion in 1243, but the coins were struck under their names until 1304. Architectures and objects synthesized various styles, both Iranian and Syrian, sometimes make proper attribution difficult. Carpentry art is cultivated, and at least one pictorial manuscript comes from this period.
Caravansera marks major trade routes throughout the region, which are placed at day-trip intervals. The construction of these caravanserai inns increases in scale, fortification, and replication. Also, they began to contain central mosques.
The Turkmen is a nomadic settling in the Lake Van area. They are responsible for a number of mosques, such as the Blue Mosque in Tabriz, and they have a decisive influence after the fall of Seljuq Anatolia. Beginning in the 13th century, Anatolia was dominated by the small Turkmen dynasty, which was increasingly cut off in the Byzantine region. Little by little came the great dynasty of the Ottomans, which, after 1450, was called the "first Ottoman". Turkmen art works can be seen as a pioneer of Ottoman art, especially the "Milet" ceramics and the first blue-and-white Anatolia work.
Painting Islam books witnessed the first golden age in the thirteenth century, mostly from Syria and Iraq. The influence of the Byzantine visual vocabulary (blue and gold, angel and winning motifs, curtain symbology) combined with the Mongoloid face type in books in the 12th century.
Previously the coins of course featured Arabic epigraphs, but as the Ayyubids became more cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, the coinage began to display astrology, figural (featuring Greek sculptures, Seleucids, Byzantines, Sasanians, and contemporary Turkish rulers) and animal pictures.
Hillenbrand points out that the medieval Islamic texts called Maqamat , copied and illustrated by Yahya bin Mahmud al-Wasiti are some early "coffee table books". They are among the first texts that hold a mirror for everyday life in Islamic art, portraying funny stories and showing little or no inheritance of pictorial tradition.
South Asia
The Indian subcontinent, some of the northern part conquered by Ghaznavids and Ghurids in the 9th century, did not become autonomous until 1206, when Muizzi, or slave-king, seized power, marked the birth of the Delhi Sultanate. Later, other competing sultanates were established in Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, Jaunpur, Malwa, and in the northern Deccan (Bahmanids). They broke away bit by bit from the Persian tradition, gave birth to an original approach to architecture and urbanism, characterized primarily by interaction with Hindu art. The study of the production of things has hardly begun, but the art of living illumination of the manuscript is known. The period of the sultanate ended with the arrival of the Mughal, who progressively seized their territory.
The Three Empires
Ottoman
The Ottoman Empire, whose origins lie in the 14th century, continued to exist shortly after World War I. This impressive length of life, combined with a vast territory (stretching from Anatolia to Tunisia), naturally leads to an art that important and distinctive, including many architectures, ceramic and ceramic masal productions, especially Iznik ware, metal and essential jewelry, Turkish paper baking Ebru, Turkish rugs as well as fabulous Ottoman tapestries and miniature and decorative Ottoman lighting.
The works of illustrations of the Ottoman manuscript include two "festival books" (Nama-Saya-HÃÆ'¼mayun), one that dates from the late 16th century, and the other from the era of Sultan Murad III. These books contain many illustrations and show a strong Safavid influence; so they may be inspired by the books taken during the 16th century Ottoman-Safavid war.
The Ottomans are also known for the development of their bright red pigments, "Iznik red", in ceramics, which culminated in the 16th century, both in tile and pottery work, using highly altered flower motifs from China and the Persian Model. From the 18th century, Ottoman art was under the great influence of Europe, the Turks adopted the Rococo version which had lasting and less favorable effects, leading to too fussy decorations.
Mughal
The Mughal Empire in India lasted from 1526 to (technically) 1858, although since the late 17th century power flowed away from the emperor to local rulers, and later European powers, especially the British Raj, which was a major force in India by the late 18th century. This period is most famous for the luxurious art of the palace, and the Mughal style is greatly influenced by local Hindu rulers and later Sikhs as well. The Mughal miniature began by importing Persian artists, especially the group brought back by Humayun when exiled in the Persian Safavid, but soon local artists, many Hindus, were trained in style. Realistic portraits, and images of animals and plants, developed in Mughal art beyond what Persia has achieved so far, and the size of the miniature increases, sometimes to the canvas. The Mughal Court has access to European prints and other arts, and this has an increasing influence, shown in the gradual introduction of the gradual aspects of Western graphics, and the wider variety of poses in human figures. Some Western images are directly copied or borrowed from. As local Nawabs' palaces grew, different provincial styles with stronger influence from traditional Indian paintings flourished in both the palaces of Muslim and Hindu princes.
Jewelery and sculpture of gemstone jewelry, such as jasper, jade, decorated with ruby ​​stone, diamond and emerald mentioned by Mughal historian Abu'l Fazl, and various examples of survival; A series of hard stone daggers in the shape of a horse's head is very impressive.
Mughal is also a good metallurgical expert, they introduced Damascus steel and purified locally produced Wootz steels, Mughal also introduced a metal "bidri" technique in which silver motifs were pressed on a black background. Famous Mughal metallurgists such as Ali Kashmiri and Muhammed Salih Thatawi created an infinite celestial sphere.
Safawi and Qajars
The Safavids of Iran, a dynasty spanning from 1501 to 1786, is distinguished from the Mughal Empire and the Ottomans, and previous Persian rulers, partly through the Shi'ite faith of its shah, which they succeeded in making a majority denomination in Persia. Ceramic art is characterized by the strong influence of Chinese porcelain, often executed in blue and white. Architecture flourished, reaching a culmination with the Shah Abbas building program in Isfahan, which includes many gardens, palaces (such as Ali Qapu), large bazaars, and large imperial mosques.
The art of enlightening manuscripts also reached new heights, especially in Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh, a large copy of Ferdowsi poetry containing more than 250 paintings. In the 17th century a new type of painting developed, based around the album (muraqqa). The albums are the creation of lovers who are bound together with a single sheet of paintings, drawings, or calligraphy by various artists, sometimes excluded from previous books, and other times created as independent works. Reza Abbasi's paintings are mostly in the art of this new book, which depicts one or two larger figures, usually idealized beauty in the garden, often using the grisaille technique previously used for border painting for the background.
After the fall of the Safavids, Qajars, a Turkmen tribe founded from centuries on the shores of the Caspian Sea, took power. Qajar art displays increasing European influence, as in the great oil painting depicting Qajar shahs. Steel work is also considered of new importance. Like the Ottomans, the Qajar dynasty survived until 1925, a few years after the First World War.
Modern period
From the fifteenth century, the number of smaller Islamic courts began to decline, when the Ottoman Empire, and then the Safavids and European powers, swallowed them; this has an effect on Islamic art, which is usually strongly led by court patronage. From at least the 18th century onwards, the elite Islamic art was increasingly influenced by European styles, and in the applied arts either largely adopted Western styles, or ceased to grow, retained any style prevalent at some point at the end of the 18th century or early 19th century.. Many industries with very long history, such as pottery in Iran, are mostly closed, while others, such as metal work in brass, become frozen in style, with most of their production going to tourists or exported as oriental exotica.
The carpet industry remains large, but most use designs originated before 1700, and compete with machine-made imitations both locally and worldwide. Arts and crafts with a broader social base, such as mosaic ceramics from the Maghreb, often survive better. Islamic countries have developed modern and contemporary art, with a very strong art world in some countries, but the extent to which it should be grouped in specific categories as "Islamic art" is questionable, although many artists deal with themes related to Islam, and use traditional elements such as calligraphy. Especially in the oil-rich parts of the Islamic world much of the modern architecture and interior decoration takes advantage of the motives and elements drawn from the heritage of Islamic art.
See also
- Calligraphy
- Islamic Culture
- Islamic graffiti
Note
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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