Download - ART OF ISLAM
ART OF ISLAM
CLASS1 PART 2
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES ON ISLAMIC ARTS
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
• SURROUNDED BY REMNANTS OF GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION.
• CANABALIZED MATERIALS FOR ISLAMIC BUILDINGS.
• ADOPTED SOME MOTIFS AND TECHNIQUES
ROMAN PANTHEON AND DOME OF THE ROCK
BYZANTINE AND SASSANIANS• TWO GREAT EMPIRES IN NEAR EAST AT TIME OF
FOUNDING OF ISLAM. ENGAGED IN LONG-TERM WAR AND RIVALRY.
• BYZANTIUM WAS EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE AND CONTINUATION OF CLASSCAL ROME. ENDED IN 1453 WITH FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
• SASSANIAN EMPIRE COVERED PARTS OF TODAY’S TURKEY, IRAN AFGHANISTAN FROM 224-651CE. DEFEATED AND ABSORBED INTO CALIPHATE.
WHICH IS BYZANTINE?
THE SIX GREAT THEMES COMMON TO MOST ISLAMIC ARTS
FOUR FROM NATURE TWO FROM HUMANITY
• THE FOUR THEMES FROM NATURE ARE: INFINITY, NIGHT, THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER/WATER.
• THE TWO THEMES FROM HUMANITY ARE: THE BELOVED AND THE GARDEN.
• THE THEMES CAN BE FOUND IN MUSIC, LITERATURE, ARCHITECTURE, DECORATIVE ARTS, ETC.
• THEY EXIST ACROSS TIME AND CULTURES.
INFINITY• I sent my Soul through the Invisible, • Some letter of that After-life to spell.• And ay my soul returned to me’• Saying I myself am Heaven and Hell
Omar Khayyam Persia• The vastness and emptiness of the
landscape created a sense of endlessness.
• The ability of caravans to travel in this landscape contributed.
• Repeating designs and motifs are representative of infinity. Arabesque is a term applied to some of these designs.
Night• NIGHT IN MANY PARTS OF
ISLAMIC WORLD IS MOST ACTIVE TIME OF DAY.
• NIGHT SKY GIVES DEFINITION TO THE INFINITY OF LANDSCAPE.
• MUSIC AND POETRY 2 ARTS FORMS MOST COMMONLY CELEBRATING NIGHT.
• LEILA OR VARIATION MOST COMMON WOMEN’S NAME IN ARABIC SPEAKING NATIONS.
THE BELOVED• BELOVED IS CELEBRATED IN MOST
ART FORMS BUT ESPECIALLY IN LITERATURE AND MINATURE PAINTING.
• MYSTICS OFTEN BLUR LINE BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND DIVINE WHEN SPEAKING OF BELOVED.
• LONGING IS COMMON CHARACTERISTIC OF RELATIONSHIP WITH BELOVED PERHAPS DUE SEPARATION OF MEN AND WOMEN AFTER CHILDHOOD AND ARRANGED MARRAIGES.
THE MOUNTAIN
• IN LANSCAPE THE MOUNTAIN REPRESENTS A GOAL TO BE ACHIEVED. SAME IN ARTS.
• RECALLS HIGH PLACES WHERE GOD WAS WORSHIPED, ESPECIALLY IN ARCHICTECTURE.
WATER/THE RIVER• SYMBOL OF LIFE AND
SUSTENANCE IN ALL ART FORMS.
• SMOOTH SURFACES OF GLASS AND CERAMICS ONE MIMIC OF WATER’S CHARACTERISTICS.
• BLUE TONES USED IN MANY TYPICAL VISUAL ART FORMS REFLECTION OF THIS.
• WORDS AZURE AND TURQUOISE COME FROM ISLAMIC USE OF BLUES.
THE GARDEN• “PARADISE” COMES FROM
PERSIAN WORD FOR GARDEN.
• GARDENS ARE A PREVIEW OF THE WORLD TO COME.
• CREATED BY HUMAN INTENTION JUST AS HUMAN FATE IS DETERMINED BY INDIVIDUAL INTENTION.
THE ROLE OF HOSPITALITY IN THE JUST AND EQUITABLE SOCIETY
EVERY GUEST IS A GIFT FROM GOD• GEOGRAPHY , TRADE AND
PILGRIMAGE CREATED NEED FOR HOSPITALITY.
• BOTH RELIGION AND CULTURES OF ISLAMIC WORLD SUPPORTED NEED.
• SHARING WHAT ONE HAS WITH STRANGER BECAME MARK OF PIOUSNESS.
“WELCOME TO YOUR HOME”• HOSPITALITY IS GENUINE.• ESTABLISHS MUTUAL
RELATIONSHIPS AND OBLIGATIONS WHICH TRANSFER ACROSS TIME AND PLACE.
• PROVIDES FOR SAFTEY AND PREDICTABILITY DURING TRAVEL.
• REINFORCES IDEA OF GREATER ISLAMIC COMMUNMITY. HOSPITALITY NOT LIMITED TO MUSLIMS