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(Western Islamic art: Moorish:)

‘The poems that adorn the Alhambra* as calligraphic ornamentation celebrate its cupolas as domes of heaven ** rotating around the prince sitting under them.’

***

*(in Granada, Spain)

**(cf [1])

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 91

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[continued]

‘In general, the *art of metalwork exhibits a consistently growing intricacy** in composition and in details to the point that individual subjects are at times lost in overlapping planes of arabesques.’

***

*(Seljuq)

[See last previous ts journal entry]

**{NB}

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 90

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Middle Period of Islamic Art (continued) [continued (4)]}[20th April 1991]

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‘Other arts. Although probably not as varied as architecture,* the other arts of the Seljuq period also underwent tremendous changes. They demonstrate an extraordinary artistic energy,** a widening of the social patronage of the arts, and a hitherto unknown variety*** of topics and modes of expression. It was as though the Seljuq period was gathering a sort of aesthetic momentum,**** but this effort seems to have been curtailed by the Mongol invasion.#

#*

Chronologically, almost all surviving documentation and examples of these arts date from the latter part of the period, after 1150[ce].#** It is unclear whether this apparent date is merely an accidental result what has been preserved and is known through 20th-century scholarship or whether it corresponds to some precise event or series of events.’

#***

*[See last previous ts journal entry]

**J~

***J~

****{cf [[Redbook9:146][19910420:0953hh]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued:] Late Period of Islamic Art [continued (10)]}[20th April 1991],] 146}

#{1220-1260

2048J~1280}

#*{cf 1150-1250 European transition Romanesque→Gothic}

#**2048A~1024|A~J~1152|J~1280[ce]

#*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:85]

[Single paragraph in ms.]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Middle Period of Islamic Art (continued) [continued (3)]}[20th April 1991]

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‘In summing up the architectural development of the Seljuk period,* three points seem to be particularly significant.

One is the expansion of building typology and the creation of new monumental architectural forms, thus illustrating an expansion of patronage and a growing complexity** of taste.

The second point is that, regardless of the quality and interest of monuments in the Fertile Crescent, Egypt, and Anatolia, the most inventive and exciting architecture in the 11^th and 12^th centuries [ce]*** was that of Iran.**** But, far more than in the preceding period, regional needs and # regional characteristics seem to predominate over synchronic and pan-Islamic ones.

Finally, there was a striking growth of architectural decoration#* both in sophistication of design and in variation of technique.

#**

*[See last previous ts journal entry but one]

**{NB}

***2048A~1024|J~1280[ce]

****(where are / will be Shiism and Sufism)

#J~=Fragmentation

#*J~-G~ff characteristic

#** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 89

[Single paragraph in ms. Source text continues in new paragraph to next ts journal entry]

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‘…What is known as Seljuk art* certainly overwhelms almost all others** in its importance.’

***

*[See last previous ts journal entry]

**(of the Middle Period)

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 85

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Middle Period of Islamic Art (continued)*}[20th April 1991]

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(13th-century** [ce] Seljuk Anatolia:)

‘The exuberance of Anatolian architectural decoration can perhaps best be demonstrated in the facades of as Gok Medrese and of Konya’s Ince Minare.*** In addition to the traditional geometric, epigraphic, and vegetal motifs, a decorative sculpture in the round or in high relief was created that included many representations of human figures and especially animals.**** Whether this sculpture is essentially a reflection of the decorative wealth of pre-Islamic monuments in Anatolia, or whether it is the vestige of a pagan Turkish art that originated in Central Asia, is still an unsolved problem.’

#

*[Ref [Redbook9:132][19910420:0953g]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Early and Middle Periods of Islamic Art [continued (6)]}[20th April 1991]]

**2048J~1280CE

***[sic – a minaret]

****{cf VIII:[[Redbook8:166-167*][19901231:1301d]{Geometric Pottery}[31st December 1990](&ant)] 166,

{[[Redbook9:236-237][19910501:0800#]{The Nature of the Romans}[1st May 1991]],] 236},

parallel development in Ancient Greek (Geometric Style) c[irca] 800BCEff

(2048J~768BCE)

(quoting E[ncyclopaedia of] V[isual] A[rt] 1:113

# – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 89

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Art by Numbers? [continued (6)]}[20th April 1991]

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I wonder...?* –

*[Ref last previous ts journal entry]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Art by Numbers? [continued (5)]}[20th April 1991]

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‘Most of the decorative designs tended to be subordinated to geometry, and even calligraphic or vegetal patterns were affected by a seemingly mathematically controlled aesthetic. It has been suggested that these complex geometric designs were a result of an almost mystical passion for number theories that were popularised in 11^th century [ce] Iran by such persons as the scholar and scientist al-Biruni or the poet-mathematician Omat Khayyam. But even if the impulses for geometric design were originally created at the highest intellectual level, the designs themselves rapidly became automatic patterns. Their quality was generally high, but a tendency towards facility can be observed in such buildings as Rebat-e Sharaf.’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:88]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Art by Numbers? [continued (4)]}[20th April 1991]

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[continued]

This* is comparable to the C[ircles] A[nalysis] & S[ynthesis] development, which becomes disordered after 8 (cardinal and diagonal) degrees (and chaotic, I suspect, after 16** – see [2][SA]***); and also to the ‘Accumulation Point’ of Chaotic mathematics which if my memory is correct occurs between 2⁴=16 and 2⁵=32.

It’s interesting that it occurs in Iran (Shiite-to-be, and thus**** Sufi-connected); but of course squinches and domes, doors {and} towers, are not specifically Islamic.

*[See last previous ts journal entry]

**cf [[[Redbook9:223-225][19910430:1230#]{[Early Renaissance in Italy [continued #]]}[30th April 1991]],] 224

***[Formerly EoC]

[& see also 1M]

****[sic]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Art by Numbers? [continued (3)]}[20th April 1991]

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*There is a wonderful symbolism in the way the square base develops through an octagon, created by the squinches,** into the circle at the base of the dome. Perhaps the eyvans*** were intended to emphasise the cardinal square-ness of the base. The minaret gives the figure one; only the gateway is left for the figure two – difficult to fit unless perhaps there were two gates or doors:

1. Minaret

2. Doors?

3. Eyvans around square centre

4. Octagon by squinches

….

Infinity. Circle of (base of) dome

****

*[See two last previous ts journal entries]

**[See last previous ts journal entry]

***[See last previous ts journal entry but one]

****{cf [[Redbook9:163][19910421:1410#]{[The Mamluks [continued]]}[21st April 1991],] 163[,]

[[Redbook9:223-225][19910430:1230#]{[Early Renaissance in Italy [continued #]]}[30th April 1991],] 224}

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‘Domes and eyvans indicate the central concern of Iranian construction during the Seljuq period: vaulting in baked brick became the main vehicle for any monumental construction (mud brick was used for secondary parts of a building, frequently for certain secular structures). A large and forcefully composed octagonal base developed the Muqarnas squinch* from a purely ornamental feature into one where wherein both structural and decorative features combined. In some later buildings, such as the mausoleum of Sanjar at Merv, a system of ribs was used to vault an octagonal zone.’

**

*‘squinch: (arch[itecture] arch built diagonally from the corner of a square building supporting a spire or dome.’

– E[ncyclopaedia of] V[isual] A[rt] 9:764

** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 88

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(Seljuk art)

Note NB The Great Mosque at Isfahan introduced 4 large vaulted halls, eyvans, one opening onto the central court from each of its sides: ‘it broke up into 4 areas what had for centuries been a characteristic of the mosque: its single, unified space.’** This feature, and the dome also found in the Great Mosque, became characteristic of Seljuq mosques. Two other features found in Isfahan*** – the tower and the formal gateway – are characteristic Iranian forms.****

*[continued from last ts journal entry but two, [Redbook9:132][19910420:0953g]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Early and Middle Periods of Islamic Art [continued (6)]}[20th April 1991]]

** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 88

***(not in the Great Mosque)

**** – per – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 87-88

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{Art Cycles (2 [continued])}[20th April 1991]

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One of the notable features of pre-Romanesque European art – eg Carolingian, Ottonian, Saxon and Irish painting – is its attachment to the written word, in the form of illustrations to books, illuminations around the text, and even the calligraphy itself. Calligraphy is perhaps the Islamic art form,* so it is interesting that the European periods all coincide roughly with the initial rise of Islam – given that I connect the character of Islam with the date of its origin. Will calligraphy turn out relatively stronger in early Islam** than later, eg c[irca]1024CE-1536CE and 1536CEff, when European painting was freed from its textual attachments?***

*{cf [[Redbook9:148][19910420:0953mm]{The Dome of the Rock (2)}[20th April 1991],] 148,

[[Redbook9:164-165][19910421:1410#]{Islamic Calligraphy}[21st April 1991],] 164-165}

**{No – See [[Redbook9:168-169][19910421:1410#]{Late Arts of the Book (1)}[21st April 1991],] 169,

[[Redbook9:175-179][19910421:1410#]{Late Arts}[21st April 1991],] 175}

***{cf [[Redbook9:166-168][19910421:1410#]{Invasion and Migration}[21st April 1991],] 166;}

{ [[Redbook9:182][19910422:1210]{A Thousand Years of Art?}[22nd April 1991],] 182?,

[[Redbook9:182-183][19910422:1210#]{The Nature of Islam}[22nd April 1991],] 183}

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{Art Cycles (2)}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:133-134][19910420:0953h]{Art Cycles (2)}[20th April 1991]

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[continued]

I should like to see ‘geometric’ styles and themes in the visual arts* at around S~, even though this might conflict with formulaized art at (say) M~-U~ – but geometric styles keep turning up obstinately around A~-J~, eg:

**

c[irca]1100-900BCE***	Ancient Greece (Protogeometric Period: Reworking of old forms and patterns with new precision and eye for proportion and design)
c[irca]900-700BCE***	Ancient Greece: Geometric Period: Variety of geometric designs, mostly rectilinear.
c[irca]909-1171CE****	Islam[:] Fatimids: ‘Another decorative trend is especially used on 12th-century mihrabs: explicitly complicated geometric patterns, usually based on stars, which in turn generate octagons, hexagons, triangles, and rectangles. Geometry becomes a sort of network in the middle of which small vegetal units continue to remain, often as inlaid pieces. Long inscriptions written in very elaborate calligraphies also became a typical form of architectural decoration on most of the major Fatamid buildings.’#
c[irca]1000-12thc[entury ce] ****	Europe: I have a note on my draft booklet circle 11.1 ‘European Cultural Cycle: Visual Art: 0-2048CE’: Romanesque art and architecture [high] geometric styles – heavily influenced by pattern and symbolism of Byzantine art’. But I cannot find the source for ‘geometric’ here and am uncertain what it means in this context.#*

*cf [[Redbook9:124-125][19910415:0840aa]{Visual Arts [continued –] Art Cycles (1)}[15th April 1991],] 125

**{→[[Redbook9:183][19910423:0920#]{Art Cycles (3)}[20th April 1991],] 183}

***{2048A~1024|J~768BCE}

****{2048A~1024|J~1380CE}

# – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 85

#*{See eg VIII. [[Redbook8:311][19910306:0930r]{Romanesque Art [continued (15)}[6th March 1991]&ant,] 311 (E[ncyclopaedia of] V[isual] A[rt] 4:570-571}

– ‘Predeliction for simplification, almost geometrisation of human forms.’}

{(But NB every A~#** is also a C for a cycle of half the length)}

#**[ms has M~, which cannot be correct, but is a frequent ms error for A~ due to the common initial letter of their fictional counterparts]

[& cf [Redbook9:163][19910421:1410bb]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Periods of Islamic Art [continued 17)]}[21st April 1991]]

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