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THE ISLAMIC WORLD. GARDINER CHAPTER 13-3 PP. 355-362. GREAT MOSQUE, ISFAHAN. Aerial view of the Great Mosque (looking southwest), Isfahan, Iran, eleventh to seventeenth centuries
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THE ISLAMIC WORLD GARDINER CHAPTER 13-3 PP. 355-362
GREAT MOSQUE, ISFAHAN • Aerial view of the Great Mosque (looking southwest), Isfahan, Iran, eleventh to seventeenth centuries • The typical Iranian mosque plan of four vaulted IWANS and a courtyard may have been used for first time in this mosque built in Isfahan • The qiblaiwan is the largest -> its size and dome covered maqsura in front of it indicated the proper direction for Muslim prayer
ISLAMIC TILEWORK • Mihrab from the Madrasa Imami, Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1354. Glazed mosaic tilework, 11’ 3” X 7’ 6” • Starting with Dome of the Rock, the earliest major Islamic building, mosaics and or ceramic tiles used to decorate walls and vaults of mosques, madrasas, palaces, and tombs • MOSAIC TILEWORK = large ceramic panels of single colors are fired and then cut into smaller pieces and set like tesserae • CUERDA SECA = polychrome tiles bearing geometric, vegetal, and Arabic script
IRANIAN TILEWORK • Winter prayer hall of the Shahi (Imam) Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 1611-1638 • One of the masterpieces of Islamic tilework • Its dome is tile mosaic -> its winter prayer hall is cuerdaseca tiles -> covered walls, arches, and vaults -> had to manufacture a wide variety of shapes with curved surfaces to sheathe the hall
MADRASA IMAMI, ISFAHAN • Mihrab from the Madrasa Imami, Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1354. Glazed mosaic tilework, 11’ 3” X 7’ 6” • Some of the masterworks of Arabic calligraphy are not in manuscripts but on walls • The pointed arch that frames the mihrab niche bears an inscription from the Koran in Kufic • Outer rectangular frame is another type of Islamic calligraphy • Niche and area above pointed arch -> geometric and abstract floral motifs • Calligraphic and geometric elements are so unified that only a practiced eye can distinguish them
LUXURY ARTS – TIMURID BUSTAN • Timurid dynasty in Persia – 14th and 15th centuries • BIHZAD, Seduction of Yusuf, folio 52 of the Bustan of Sultan HusaynMayqara, from Herat, Afghanistan, 1488. • Ink and color on paper • The most famous Persian painter of his age was Bihazad -> worked for the sultan at Herat • Story of the seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife • Vivid color, intricate decorative detailing, and brilliant balance between two-dimensional patterning and perspective
SAFAVID SHAHNAMA • Safavids were the successors to the Timurids in Iran • SULTAN-MUHAMMAD, Court of Gayumars, folio 20 verso of the Shahnama of Shah Tamasp, from Tabriz, Iran, 1525-1535 • Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper • The Shahnama is the Persian national epic poem -> this page is the work of Sultan-Muhammad -> depicts the legendary first king of Persia • Lightness and airiness permeate the painting -> this is enhanced by the off-center placement of the image of the page
ADARBIL CARPETS • MAQSUD OF KASHAN, carpet from the funerary mosque of Shaykh Safi al-Din, Ardabil, Iran, 1540. Knotted pile of wool and silk, 34’ 6” X 17’ 7”. • Carpet weaving became a national industry in Persia • Name of the designer Maqsud of Kashan is woven into the design of the carpet • Required roughly 25 million knots, 340 per square inch • Central sunburst medallion representing the inside of a dome -> surrounded by 16 pendants -> mosque lamps suspended -> reflection from a blue pool w/floating lotus blossoms
MOSQUE LAMPS • Mosque lamp from Egypt, 1340 • Glass with enamel decoration, 1’1” high • The glass lamps hung on chains from the mosque’s ceilings • Includes a quotation from the Koran comparing God’s light to the light in the lamp -> the lit lamp would have dramatically illuminated this verse
BAPTISTERE DE SAINT LOUIS • MUHAMMAD IBN AL-ZAYN, basin (Baptistère de Saint Louis), from Egypt, ca. 1300. Brass, inlaid with gold and silver, 8 3/4” high. • Brass basin from Egypt inlaid with gold and silver • Used for washing hands at official ceremonies • Central band depicts Mamluk hunters and Mongol enemies
Canteen with episodes from the life of Christ, from Syria, ca. 1240–1250. Brass, inlaid with silver, 1’ 2 1/2” diameter • During the 11th-13th centuries large numbers of Christians traveled to the Holy Land as either pilgrims or crusaders -> many returned w/souvenirs • This unique brass canteen w/inlaid silver was commissioned by wealthy Christian patron • Madonna and Child enthroned in central medallion, three panels w/New Testament scenes from the life of Jesus unfold in counterclockwise sequence • Decorative details are Islamic • Christian patronage of Islamic art