The Art of Scenery and Representation in Tomb Mosques' Decorations (original) (raw)
Related papers
Study of Decorative Art in the Muslim Religious Monuments with Religious Significance
The Muslim monuments specially the religious (Mosques and Tombs) have no pictorial art designs due to the prohibition of picturing animate objects in Islam. Alternatively, the art which was highly valued by the Muslims themselves was that of calligraphy and floral decoration in polychrome and in verity of writing styles and design. The paper focuses on the nature of Islamic art with religious significance. A comprehensive study and attempt are made in this paper that as per the education of painters, calligraphers and masons, they kept themselves away from the pictorial art and designs especially in the religious monuments like mosques and tombs and what type of alternative they produced for the replace of the same. How they make it too much valuable and supportive against the other mural art.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
An analytic study on architectural decorations in early Islamic architecture
2014
Islamic architecture dating back to about 1400 years ago, has been affected by territories under the Islam dominance from the view point of the form as well as architectural decorations. That is why some critics has considered the form similarities as a weak point in the Islamic architecture, while others are denying any derivation in Islamic architecture and believe that its principles have been extracted from the Islam religion. In this regard, Iran as a country having a civilization which both affected and was affected on/by the adjacent civilizations may be assumed as the basis for the Islamic architecture formation at the very beginning centuries and may overcome the related ambiguities.The present article attempts to consider the effects of the pre-Islamic patterns on Islamic architectural decorations during the first to fourth centuries (Hijri). Therefore, we firstly provide definitions and concepts as requirements of such study in the field of religious art and architecture ...
Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition
Many people have contributed to this work in a variety of ways. I would like to thank in particular: David Stronach for his unfailing and affectionate support, his detailed readings of my manuscript, and his insightful comments. He will remain for me a model of intellectual modesty, rigour and insight. Finbarr Barry Flood and Jocelyne Dakhlia for their minute reading of the manuscript, and insightful and enriching remarks.
Architectural Elements in Islamic Ornamentation: New Vision in Contemporary Islamic Art
Arts and Design Studies, 2014
Throughout history, Islamic Ornamentation was the most characteristic to identify Islamic architecture. It used in mosques and other Islamic buildings. Many studies were about the formation of Islamic art from pre-existing traditional elements and about the nature of the power which wrought all those various elements into a unique synthesis. Nobody will deny the unity of Islamic art, despite the differences of time and place. It's far too evident, whether one contemplates the mosque of Cordoba, the great schools of Samarkand or Al-Mustansiriya. It's like the same light shone forth from all these works of art.
During the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish traditions of decorating pottery vessels emerged as they developed new patterns and designs, which were heavily influenced by Chinese culture. Chinese porcelains were recognized for their unique design, called “Blue and White.” The influence of the “Blue and White” Chinese porcelain transformed the patterns of traditional Turkish designs in profound ways. Turkish designs evolved into decorative patterns that clearly show a relationship between Turkish pottery and Chinese “Blue and white” designs. An excellent example is, “Dish Depicting Two Birds among Flowering Plants” which provides visible evidence of the cultural relationship between China and the Islamic World, demonstrating that there was a design adaptation rather than an imitation.
Decorated Walls, Description, and Cultural Memory between Byzantium, Persia, and Early Islam
Convivium 8.2, 2021
Very few wall mosaics or paintings survive intact from the early Byzantine buildings of the eastern Mediterranean. This material gap has complicated our understanding of the images that appeared on the walls of palaces and churches, and the ways in which different groups of viewers responded to them. Thankfully, texts help supplement the corpus of decorated walls. Two ninth-century texts, the Arabic poem “Īwān Kisrā” (“Palace of Khusro”) by the Abbasid poet al-Buḥturī (d. 897 C.E.) and the Greek Letter of the Three Patriarchs to the Emperor Theophilos (mid-ninth century), have been omitted from the discussion, and expand our idea of what kinds of images Byzantine, Persian, and later, Umayyad and Abbasid viewers might have seen in their spaces of worship and of rule. These descriptions, of painted or mosaic images of a battle between the Byzantine and Sasanian Persian armies at the Persian palace at Ctesiphon, and of Christ’s nativity at the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, showcase the ability of wall decoration to speak to viewers from a range of cultural backgrounds: at Ctesiphon, the Abbasid speaker in al-Buḥturī’s poem encounters a Persian mosaic, while at Bethlehem, invading Persian soldiers confront an image of their ancestors, the Three Magi, on a Christian church. By considering these texts against other descriptions of works of art from the period, as well as extant images, this article supplements current understandings of the artistic encounters, and the wider relationship, between Persia, Byzantium, and the early Islamic caliphates. More broadly, the article opens up questions of receptions of monumental works of art in the early medieval period, as well as the role of images as sites of cultural memory. Works of narrative art such as those described by al-Buhturi and the Letter of the Three Patriarchs could prompt potent reactions from viewers from different cultures, allowing them to communicate and even shape their cultural and religious identities through contact with images from other traditions. The presence of images in these two texts not only broadens our knowledge of the types of wall mosaics and paintings that existed, it also encourages us to widen our view of the audiences of medieval works of monumental art.
SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENT OF THE MOSAICS DECORATION AT QASTAL PALACE
2024
The following research deals with Al-Qastal Palace, one of the most important early Islamic structures. It dates specifically to the Umayyad era in Jordan. Its floors are decorated with geometric mosaics, which were revealed during a series of archaeological excavations. These mosaics are characterized by a high level of artistic skill in their execution, particularly as evidenced by the great diversity in their shapes and designs. This study marks a serious attempt to compare the palace's mosaics with their counterpart in Byzantine art as represented at various Byzantine sites, likewise, to show the influence of Byzantine models on Islamic mosaics. Our research suggests that there was a prevalent school of art that was widespread in the region. By comparing the mosaics with relatively nearby sites, we were able to arrive at a comprehensive overview of mosaic production in the region, and determine whether they all belong to a single school of art. A serious attempt is being made to identify the main sources of influence for Qasr al-Qastal, especially those coming from Asia Minor, but also from other places outside the region.
2016
The topic of this chapter is the geometry and the construction of vaulted and decorative systems called ‘muqarnas’, one of the most typical elements of Islamic architecture. This way of ‘vaulting spaces’ or building roof and decorations with a system of regular staircase-elements that break down the surface covering it with simple geometrical figures, so as to make up complex patterns, spreads throughout Arabic countries, leading to the development of several styles, deriving from different generative geometries, and from building techniques and used materials. The reason which accounts for the widespread development of this type of decoration is to be found in the prohibition of the Moslem religion to portray idols or anthropomorphic figures of God, in contrast with the decorative techniques of sculpture and painting characterizing Christian art. The geometrical study which is at the basis of the Islamic art of decorating is arousing new interest and attention as regards the new sy...