GuideToArtHistory

FamousArtistsArtStylesandPeriodsArtMediumsAncientArt

IntroductiontoAncientIslamicArtByArtHistory.net

IslamicartreferstoartcreatedbyIslamicartistsandartisansaswellasartcreatedinlandsruledbyMuslims.Islamicarthasbeencreatedsincethe7thcenturyandincorporatesawidearrayofartisticgenreslikepainting,calligraphy,architecture,ceramics,glassmaking,andmore.IslamicartreflectsbothreligiousworksaswellasworksmerelyindicativeofIslamicculture.Overthecenturies,Islamicarthasdevelopedmanycharacteristicelementsanddistinctivestyles.

IslamicarthasbeeninfluencedbyRoman,Byzantine,andearlyChristianart.TheartofpreIslamicPersiawasparticularlyinfluentialonthedevelopmentofIslamicartaswastheartofCentralAsia.Asthecenturiespassed,variousrulingdynastieswouldalsoimpacttheartassociatedwiththeirperiodofrule.BecauseofthevastterritoriesthathaveascribedtotheIslamicfaith,therearemanydifferentstylesofartproducedundertheIslamicumbrella.EthnicallyandculturallydiversepeopleshavecontributedtotheongoingdevelopmentofIslamicart.

Islamicartislargelycharacterizedbyarabesques,repeatingbotanicalorgeometricalelementsthatadornworksofart.AlthoughthereissomerepresentationofhumanandanimalfiguresinIslamicart,manygroupsprefertoavoidtheserepresentationsincaseitisconstruedasaworkofidolatry.PatternisparticularlyintegraltomanyworksofIslamicartaswell.

ArchitectureisacornerstoneofancientIslamicart.BothreligiousandpublicarchitecturewerepromotedbytheUmayyaddynastyoftheseventhcentury.WorksliketheDomeoftheRockinJerusalemandtheGreatMosqueofDamascusrepresentcelebratedUmayyadworks.OthergreatIslamicarchitecturalworksincludethefamedBlueMosqueofSamarkand,theSioseBridgeofIran,andAlhambraofSpain.

IslamiccalligraphyisanothercornerstoneofIslamicart.OftenQu'ranicversesadornedworksofarchitectureaswellaspaintingsandotherartworks.InitiallycalligraphywaspresentedinArabicscript,butPersian,Turkish,andotherscriptscanalsobefound.CalligraphyalsopresentinthepaintingsoftheIslamicworld.ThoughwallpaintingswerepopularintheIslamictradition,thebestpreservedpaintedworksofIslamicartareworksofilluminatedtextsandminiaturepaintings.Also,nooverviewofIslamicartcouldbecompletewithoutmentionoftherugsandcarpetsproducedbyIslamicartisans.FamousOrientalrugshavebeencelebratedthroughouttheworldfortheirbeautyand

artistry.

Tiling,glass,metalworks,ceramics,andvariousappliedartswerealsopartoftheancientIslamicartistictradition.Thebestpreservedexamplesoftheseworksarecollectedbytheworld'smostillustriousmuseums.

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