art history

 The Ardabil Carpet. Maqsud of Kashan. 1539–1540 C.E. Silk and wool.  The Ardabil Carpet is exceptional; it is one of the world's oldest Islamic carpets, as well as one of the largest, most beautiful and historically important. It is not only stunning in its own right, but it is bound up with the history of one of the great political dynasties of Iran. Carpets are among the most fundamental of Islamic arts. Portable, typically made of silk and wools, carpets were traded and sold across the Islamic lands and beyond its boundaries to Europe and China. Those from Iran were highly prized. Carpets decorated the floors of mosques, shrines and homes, but they could also be hung on walls of houses to preserve warmth in the winter. Safavids; their rule, which lasted until 1722, was one of the most important periods for Islamic art, especially for textiles and for manuscripts. The pile of the carpet is made from wool, rather than silk because it holds dye better.  Th...

General Carpets are woven works of art that were produced at every level of society in the Islamic world. Women have been weaving for centuries in villages and nomadic encampments all over the Middle East, Anatolia, and Central Asia, each woman passing down her techniques and designs to her daughters. These women created carpets both for sale and for their own personal use, and this tradition continues today. Carpets were also made in the royal courts of the Islamic world. These carpets were not just functional floor coverings, they were ornate works of art that indicated the status and wealth of their owners. Court carpets were used on the floors in reception halls, audience chambers, and at court-supported religious institutions. They were also presented as impressive gifts to other rulers.  Rulers had access to expensive materials, such as silk and metal-wrapped threads, and employed the most highly skilled designers and weavers in their empires to create enormous and lux...

The Court of Gayumars, folio from Shah Tahmasp’s Shahnama. Sultan Muhammad. c. 1522–1525 C.E. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. comes from an illuminated manuscript of the Shahnama (Book of Kings)—an epic poem describing the history of kingship in Persia (what is now Iran).  its luminous pigments, fine detail, and complex imagery, this copy of the Shahnama stands out in the history of the artistic production in Central Asia.  The Shahnama was written by Abu al-Qāsim Ferdowsi around the year 1000 and is a masterful example of Persian poetry. The epic chronicles kings and heroes who pre-date the introduction of Islam to Persia as well as the human experiences of love, suffering, and death. The epic has been copied countless times—often with elaborate illustrations  manuscript illumination was central to Safavid royal patronage of the arts. This particular manuscript of the Shahnama was begun during the first years of the 16th century for the first Sa...

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg, folio from the Great Il-Khanid Shahnama. Islamic; Persian, Il’Khanid. c. 1330–1340 C.E. Ink and opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper. Bahram Gur Fights the Karg is a book illumination depicting one of the many stories from the Shahnama, the Persian Book of Kings. he text of the Shahnama was composed by a poet named Firdawsi around 1000 C.E. Considered to be Iran's national epic The illustration Bahram Gur Fights the Karg depicts one such story of the brave deeds of a Persian king, Bahram Gur, who singlehandedly defeated the monstrous Karg (horned wolf). the Mongol artists who created this work were fulfilling their patrons’ strong desire to identify with the noble, virtuous, and powerful warrior-kings of ancient Persia. Bahram V was a king of the Sasanian empire that ruled Persia from the third to the seventh century, just prior to the arrival of Islam.   He was known as a great hunter of onagers, a favorite game animal in a...

Basin (Baptistère de St. Louis). Muhammad ibn al-Zain. c. 1320–1340 C.E. Brass inlaid with gold and silver. used to baptize the children of the royal family of france not originally a french family; of Egypt and Syria  created by Mamluk artisans; extraordinary craftsmen  known for their textile and metal work; premier example  filled with figures and animals; decorative patternings  abstract pattern of sea animals on the basin; silver, gold, and black paste; eels continuous band of animals that parade around the inner wall  frieze of men on horseback; decapitated head  figures outside the bowl; men, soldiers in armor; each individual  fleur de ils; symbol of the royal family islamic inscriptions absent; made for export; non-islamic animals line the basin: leopard, camel, antelope running, jumping; movement arabic signature; signed six times; ibn al-Zain

Folio from a Qur’an.   Arab, North Africa, or Near East. Abbasid. c. eighth to ninth century C.E. Ink, color, and gold on parchment. The Qur'an is the sacred text of Islam, consisting of the divine revelation to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic. However, the word Qur'an, which means “recitation,” suggests that manuscripts were of secondary importance to oral tradition. The art of producing a mushaf began well before a pen was ever dipped into ink. The dimensions of each page were calculated before the parchment was cut, and the text was carefully situated relative to the edges of the pages. These materials suggest both the dignity of the sacred text and the wealth of its patron, who was probably a member of the aristocratic elite. In addition to the high quality and large quantity of materials used, the deliberate geometric planning of the page conveys the importance of the text that it contains.  Scribes also had some freedom in composing a page. They could em...

Great Mosque (Masjid-e Jameh). Isfahan, Iran. Islamic, Persian: Seljuk, Il-Khanid, Timurid and Safavid Dynasties. c. 700 C.E.; additions and restorations in the 14th, 18th, and 20th centuries C.E. Stone, brick, wood, plaster, and glazed ceramic tile. Most cities with sizable Muslim populations possess a primary congregational mosque. Diverse in design and dimensions, they can illustrate the style of the period or geographic region, the choices of the patron, and the expertise of the architect.  It is an architectural documentary, visually embodying the political exigencies and aesthetic tastes of the great Islamic empires of Persia. Another distinctive aspect of the mosque is its urban integration. Positioned at the center of the old city, the mosque shares walls with other buildings abutting its perimeter. Due to its immense size and its numerous entrances, it formed a pedestrian hub, connecting the arterial network of paths crisscrossing the city. The mosque faci...

Dome of the Rock. Jerusalem. Islamic, Umayyad. 691–692 C.E., with multiple renovations. Stone masonry and wooden roof decorated with glazed ceramic tile, mosaics, and gilt aluminum and bronze dome. One of the most iconic images of the Middle East is undoubtedly the Dome of the Rock shimmering in the setting sun of Jerusalem. Sitting atop the Haram al-Sharif, the highest point in old Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock’s golden-color Dome and Turkish Faience tiles dominates the cityscape of Old Jerusalem and in the 7th century served as a testament to the power of the new faith of Islam. The Dome of the Rock is one of the earliest surviving buildings from the Islamic world. This remarkable building is not a mosque, as is commonly assumed and scholars still debate its original function and meaning. when the Dome of the Rock was completed, there was intermittent warfare in Arabia and Holy Land around Jerusalem. The first Arab armies who emerged from the Arabian peninsula were fo...

The Kaaba. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Islamic. Pre-Islamic monument; rededicated by Muhammad in 631–632 C.E.; multiple renovations. Granite masonry, covered with silk curtain and calligraphy in gold and silver-wrapped thread. Pilgrimage to a holy site is a core principle of almost all faiths. The Kaaba, meaning cube in Arabic, is a square building elegantly draped in a silk and cotton veil. Located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, it is the holiest shrine in Islam. In Islam, Muslims pray five times a day; these prayers were directed towards Mecca and the Kaaba rather than Jerusalem. This direction is marked in all mosques and enables the faithful to know in which direction they should pray. Upon arriving in Mecca, pilgrims gather in the courtyard of the Masjid al-Haram around the Kaaba. They then circumambulate and hope to kiss and touch the Black Stone.  The Kaaba was a sanctuary in pre-Islamic times. Muslims believe that Abraham—known as Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition—an...

Buddha. Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Gandharan. c. 400–800 C.E. (destroyed in 2001). Cut rock with plaster and polychrome paint. Prior to their recent destruction, the 6th-7th century, rock-cut Buddha sculptures in the Bamiyan Valley of central Afghanistan were considered the largest in the world. Known collectively as the Bamiyan Buddhas, the two monumental sculptures have amazed both Buddhist and non-Buddhist visitors for more than a thousand years. Importance of the Buddhist faith and the Bamiyan Valley during this period. Bamiyan is located between the Indian subcontinent (to the southeast) and Central Asia (to the north), which made it an important location close to one of the most important branches of the Silk Route.  The Silk Route was an ancient series of linked trade routes that connected the East to the West and carried both material wealth and ideas. Bamiyan’s central location along the Silk Route, along with its fertile plains amid harsh terrain, made it an ideal ...

Petra, Jordan: Treasury and Great Temple. Nabataean Ptolemaic and Roman. c. 400 B.C.E.–100 C.E. Cut rock. The prominence of the tombs in the landscape led many early explorers and scholars to see Petra as a large necropolis (cemetary); however, archaeology has shown that Petra was a well-developed metropolis with all of the trappings of a Hellenistic city. The tomb facades draw upon a rich array of Hellenistic and Near Eastern architecture and, in this sense, their architecture reflects the diverse and different cultures with which the Nabateans traded, interacted, and even intermarried.  Today scholars believe that the tombs were probably constructed when the Nabateans were wealthiest between the second century B.C.E. and the early  second century C.E. Archaeologists and art historians have identified a number styles for the tomb facades, but they all co-existed and cannot be used date the tombs. The few surviving inscriptions in Nabataean, Greek, and Latin tell ...