Prebles' Artforms
An Introduction to the Visual Arts
ELEVENTH EDITION
CHAPTER
19
The Islamic World
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the historical development of
Islam as a world religion.
2. Discuss art and architectural forms most
common to Islamic cultures.
3. Use terms that are particular to Islamic art
and architecture.
4. Compare characteristics of Islamic art to
Christian artistic traditions in Europe.
5. Recognize the importance of visual pattern
and aesthetic pleasure in Islamic art.
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Introduction
• Islam
 Muslim
• A follower of Islam
• "One who submits to God"
 Begins in 622 CE with Muhammad's
emigration to Medina
 Quickly spread from Byzantine Empire
• North Africa
• Spain and other parts of Europe
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Introduction
• Artistic traditions of Muslims
 Allowed conquered peoples to retain
religion and culture
 Adaptation of extant traditions
 Frown upon representation of human
figures used in a religious context
• Recreation of living things as competition
with Allah (God), who created all
• Muhammad prohibited from imagery
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Arab Lands
• Early houses of worship
 Mosques
• Must be big enough to accommodate all
male worshippers for Friday prayers
• Include minarets (towers) that mark
building's location
 Great Mosque in Kairouan, Tunisia
• Mihrab points to Mecca
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Great Mosque. Kairouan, Tunisia. 836–875.
Photograph: © Roger Wood/Corbis. [Fig. 19-1]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Arab Lands
• Ceramic arts
 Major advance through luster technique
• Glaze that imparts a metallic sheen
• Most difficult to control
 Pitcher
• Thin body indicates decorative purposes,
not practical ones
• Script expresses praise and good wishes
to the owner
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Podcast: Interview with
Jonathan Bloom
Pitcher (Spouted Ewer). Early 13th century.
Luster over tin glaze. Height 6-4⁄5".
Kashan. Reproduced by permission of the Syndics of the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, from the Ades Loan
Collection. The Bridgeman Art Library. [Fig. 19-2]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Spain
• First land to be conquered by Muslims
• Distinct culture including important
scientists, poets, philosophers,
architects, and artists
• Calligraphy
 For higher learning
 Used to enhance beauty of word of God
 Qur'an, the sacred text of Islam
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Text of the Qur'an. 11th century.
Colors on paper.
North Africa or Spain. MS no. 1544. Reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of
the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. [Fig. 19-3]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Spain
• Architecture
 Geometric and floral design motifs that
complement calligraphy
 Court of the Lions, Alhambra palace
• Translucent webs of intricate decoration
• Light comes through small openings
• "There is no victor except God" in
calligraphic script
• Palace itself a contained city
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Architectural Panorama:
Alhambra
Video: Alhambra,
Generalife and Albayzín,
Granada
Court of the Lions, Alhambra. Granada, Spain. 1309–1354.
Photograph: SuperStock, Inc. [Fig. 19-4]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
The Islamic World.
[Fig. 19-5]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Persia
• Carpet
 Best-known Persian art in the West
 Portable
• Means for spreading design ideas
• Tile art
 Mihrab from Iran
• Intricate designs satisfy urge for beauty
• Aesthetically pleasing patterns
• Tells story using script, not figures
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Closer Look: Tile Mosaic
Mihrab
Mihrab. c. 1354.
Composite body, glazed, sawed to shape and assembled in
mosaic. Height 11' 3".
Iran. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Harris Brisbane Dick
Fund, 1939 (39.20). Image copyright The MoMA/Art
Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 20-6]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Persia
• Madrasa
 Muslim theological school for history
and interpretation of Qur'an and Islam
 Mir-i-Arab Madrasa in Uzbekistan
• Well-proportioned array of openings
• Iwan, the large covered porch at center
• Surfaces with floral, geometric, and
epigraphic patterned tiles
• Color integral to architecture
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Mir-i-Arab Madrasa, façade. 1535–1536.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Photograph: David Flack. [Fig. 19-7]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Persia
• Paintings
 Lavish illustrations of manuscripts
• Most often produced in workshops with
anonymous artists
• Sultan Sanjar and the Old Woman
• Sultan-Muhammad, revered painter of
Safavid Persia
• Allegory on vanity
• Subtle gestures and detail
• Rocks rendered in the Chinese style
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Attributed to Sultan-Muhammad. Sultan Sanjar and the Old Woman. From the Khamseh
(Five Poems) of Nizami, folio 181. 1539–1543.
Gouache on paper. 14-1⁄2" × 10".
The British Library London © British Library Board/Robana. [Fig. 19-8]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Art Forms Us: Worship and Ritual
• Contemplating pattern
 Beautiful patterns uplift us in daily life
 Used by modern Muslim artists in new
ways
 Usama Alshaibi, Allahu Akbar
• Digital video moving patterns in new
ways
• Connection between visual delight and
religious piety
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Usama Alshaibi. Allahu Akbar. 2003.
Still from digital video. PAL, black/white, sound. [Fig. 19-9]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Art Forms Us: Worship and Ritual
• Contemplating pattern
 Charles Hossein Zenderoudi
• Large works consisting of Persian
syllables repeated hundreds of times
• Meditation exercise
• VAV + HWE
• Based on words that mean "by he," or God
• Calligraphy constructs painting in
concentric circles
• Pilgrims around holy shrine in Mecca
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Charles Hossein Zenderoudi. VAV + HWE. 1972.
Acrylic on canvas. 78-3⁄4" × 78-3⁄4".
Private collection. Photo © Christie's Images/The Bridgeman Art Library © 2013 Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. [Fig. 19-10]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
India: The Mughal Empire
• Only a minority were Muslim
 Evolution of Islam farther from Arab
roots
 Higher level of tolerance
• Akbar
 Establishment of a religion to
incorporate elements of all religions
 Encouragement to depict figures in art
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
India: The Mughal Empire
• Akbar
 Throne room, Divan-iKhass
• Ornate pillar with four passageways
• Akbar sat at the center atop the pillar at
the metaphor for intersection of religious
systems.
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Closer Look: Private
Audience Hall, Fatehpur
Sikri
Divan-i-Khas, interior. 1570–1580.
Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh, India. Photo Jonathan M. Bloom
and Sheila S. Blair. [Fig. 19-11]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
India: The Mughal Empire
• Shah Jahan
 Last Mughal ruler
 Taj Mahal
• Built for favorite wife that died in
childbirth
• Central iwan fronted with a pointed arch
• Beauty from expensive materials and
poetic arrangement of mass
• Paradise motif in the inscription
surrounding the doorway arch
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Architectural Simulation:
Taj Mahal
Closer Look: Taj Mahal
Web Resource: Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal, central iwan, upper portion. 1632–1648.
Agra, India. Gavin Hellier/Robert Harding. [Fig. 19-12]
Prebles' Artforms, Eleventh Edition
Patrick Frank
Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved