{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Cairo]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:154][19910421:1410i]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Cairo]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘Another fine example of influence from Baghdad introduced into Cairo is found in a long wooden frieze from the great cemetery, now in the Museum of Islamic Art. This contains elements of Sassanian design, a winged diadem alternating with a tree of life and palmettes but here combined with Coptic style vegetation, the whole being framed with Koranic texts in an elongated Kufic of 9^th century [ce] style.’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 430-431

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Samarra]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:153-154][19910421:1410h]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Samarra]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘Meanwhile the attempt was made by the Caliph Mutasim (833-42[ce])* to escape from popular pressure and to separate his troops from the populace by constructing a new palace-city some 70 miles (112km) higher up the Tigris at Samarra. A vast congregational mosque was built to contain the Caliph’s household, a great walled enclosure (sahn) with eight bays on the south side and four on each of the other three. The most remarkable feature of this mosque is the minaret which is the oldest surviving example of this feature.*** All that was required was a place from which to make the call to prayer at the five stated hours; and for this the roof would normally have sufficed. Here at Samarra the minaret is a separate structure, a tapering spiral tower** to be ascended by a ramp round the outside, and without decoration; but its height and monumental scale recall the ancient ziggurat [sic] and its purpose must have been to impress. The form was copied at Cairo in the mosque of ibn [sic] Talun;**** but earlier is the tower minaret of the Great Mosque at Qairawan (724-7[ce] or 836[ce])# and this square shape was the usual form in Syria until the 12^th century.’

#*

*{2048U~A~896[ce]}

**[See last previous ts journal entry but one, [Redbook9:153][19910421:1410f]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Ziggurat at Samarra}[21st April 1991]]

***(sic)

****(where ‘the original minaret, derived from Samarra in its corkscrew form, is now represented by a renewal of 1296’

– ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 430)

#~2048U~768[ce]

#*– ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 429

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Baghdad]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:153][19910421:1410g]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Baghdad]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘The new capital city of Baghdad,* founded in 762[ce],** was designed as a round shape with gates at the four quarters to symbolise the central point of an empire which revolved around the caliph in his palace at its heart.’

***

*(‘The Abbasid Period 750-940[ce]’)***

**{2048U~768[ce]}

***– ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3:429]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Ziggurat at Samarra}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:153][19910421:1410f]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Ziggurat at Samarra}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

*

**

*{Note 7 levels? (above ground level)}

**[The photograph reproduced in the ts (above), captioned ‘The historic Great Mosque of Samarra, Iraq – Times of India’, replaces an image reproduced in the ms captioned ‘The minaret of the Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil at Samarra; 848-52[ce]’ (ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 429)]

[See next ts journal entry but one, [Redbook9:153][19910421:1410f]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Samarra]}[21st April 1991]]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Tree of Wisdom}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:152][19910421:1410e]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Tree of Wisdom}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

*

**

‘[***Khirbat al-Mafjar]**** is remarkable above all for the splendid floor mosaics, especially one depicting two deer feeding upon a great fruiting tree while a lion has pounced upon another deer# on the opposite side. According to Ettinghausen, this may symbolize the Tree of Wisdom under which the Peace of Islam is contrasted with the rule of force outside.’

#*

*[An illustration from ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 428 reproduced here in the ms but not reproduced in the ts is captioned: ‘The “Tree of Wisdom” mosaic in the unfinished palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar, near Jericho; c[irca]730[ce]’.]

**cf VIII: [[Redbook8:268][19910219:1155f]{Christians and Pagans [continued (3)]}[19th February 1991],] 268

***[The unfinished palace of]

****[Square brackets in text per ms]

#[cf [Redbook9:155-156][19910421:1410l]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Periods of Islamic Art [continued (3) – ]{Leo....}}[21st April 1991]]

#* – ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 428

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Great Mosque at Damascus [continued]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:151][19910421:1410d]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Great Mosque at Damascus [continued]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘The surviving portions [of the mosaics in the Great Mosque at Damascus]* show buildings in classical style, but with fantastic detail, standing in park-like landscapes beside wide streams. These were believed by some to represent the Barada, always a favourite resort for the inhabitants of Damascus. Whether these views in fact represent the capitals of the world or rather the heavenly mansions of paradise [sic] remains unclear. Certainly there is no sign of fortified or enclosed buildings, so that the scene is always one of peace; while the absence not only of human but even of animal figures would at once set these apart from any Christian building. Evidently the intention was to produce an effect of overwhelming splendour; the intense blue and green foliage against a gold ground conveys palatial rather than religious feeling, pleasure rather than power. It has only a formal and not a structural relation to the architecture. **This is in general the norm to which Islamic art reverts (although there is on occasion strong emphasis on structural line, as in Seljuk architecture)’.

***

*[Square brackets per ms]

[See last previous ts journal entry]

**←cf [[Redbook9:150][19910421:1410b]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Artistic Unity]}[21st April 1991],] 150

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3: 427]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Great Mosque at Damascus}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:150-151][19910421:1410c]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Great Mosque at Damascus}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘Exceptional is the other great work of al-Walid, the Great Mosque at Damascus (706-14[ce]).* It was fitted into the temenos** of the pagan temple of Augustus which had meanwhile housed the Christian cathedral of St. John. This was demolished....’

***

*{2048U~768[ce]}

**(Greek: temple, shrine etc)

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 427

[& see next ts journal entry]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Artistic Unity]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:150][19910421:1410b]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Artistic Unity]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘There is under Islam no distinction between sacred and secular, thus giving Islamic art a unity* which has been absent at least from post-medieval Christian art.’

**

*cf [[Redbook9:151][19910421:1410d]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Great Mosque at Damascus [continued]}[21st April 1991],] 151→,

{[[Redbook9:56][19910409:1239]{Islam}[9th April 1991],] 56}

[& see [Redbook9:100][19910414:1104f]{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued (6)]}[14th April 1991]]

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3]: 424

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (2) [continued (3)]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:149-150][19910421:1410]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (2) [continued (3)]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

*‘It was thus necessary for the unknown architect to plan a building in that same tradition and no doubt the lavish and beautiful mosaic decoration must have been carried out by local Syrian craftsmen of Christian origin.** The exquisite beauty consists in its harmonious proportions and rich ornamentation, especially the mosaic cladding of the arcades and the drum above and in the decoration of the bronze-clad tie-beams on soffits supporting the dome. A first impression of the design in mosaic is of vases from which grow great scrolling plants, the kind of subject to be seen in the marble floor-mosaics of Christian churches of Syria and Jordan; but apart from the greater brilliance of glass tesserae in wall mosaic, this vegetation is enhanced by the addition of jewels and crowns. In suggesting that these are intended as royal symbols, Professor Grabar has put forward his view that the Dome of the Rock was intended as an assertion of the supremacy of the Muslim faith over all older realms, and to emphasise by the inscriptions the finality of the Islamic revelation. Although the structural and decorative elements had all been used previously in Christian buildings, the actual form of the building is new, to match the novelty of its purpose.’

***

*[Source text continues from last previous ts journal entry]

**{& cf VIII. [[Redbook8:277-283][19910221:1142f]{Byzantine Art: Iconoclasm}[21st February 1991],] 277}

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3:425]

(immediately following previous extract)

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (2) [continued]}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:148-149][19910420:0953nn]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (2) [continued]}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

[continued]

*‘Although there is no prohibition of figural art in the Koran there is a strong condemnation of idolatory, and the abstract unknowable nature of Allah could be revealed only in his Word with the consequent unacceptability of any icon. Figural art was thus excluded from religious buildings and books, but from the beginning it was allowed in secular and private works.

‘This stance is at once seen in the first major buildings of the Umayyad Caliphs, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque at Damascus. Abd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock in 691-2[ce]** as a shrine, not a mosque, consisting of a circle set in an octagon,*** with two rows of columns and piers supporting a high central dome, and a roofed ambulatory for circumlocution around the Rock, associated with both Abraham and Muhammed. It stands in the wide open space left empty after the destruction of the Jewish Temple built by Herod. This area is known as the Haram al-Sharif (“the noble sanctuary”) and is considered to be the site on which the Prophet Muhammed descended**** from his night ride through the heavens on the miraculous steed Buraq whose footprint is considered to be visible on the Rock under the Dome. But this belief does not go back to the earliest centuries of Islam and it is now accepted that the Dome of the Rock was built as a symbol of the status of Islam as superseding Christianity as well as Judaism. It bears inscriptions which specifically challenge the divine nature of Christ and the Trinity and is evidently meant as an answer to the domed structure built by Constantine over the Holy Sepulchre.’

#

*[Source text continues from last previous ts journal entry]

**{2048M~U~640[ce]}

***See diagram [[Redbook9:126-127][19910415:0840dd]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (1)}[15th April 1991],] 127

****? – cf [[Redbook9:126-127][19910415:0840dd]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (1)}[15th April 1991],] 127

# – E[ncyclopaedia of] V[isual] A[rts] 3:425

(& see following para[graph] ↓ on details, and [photographic] illus[tration] [of interior] p[age] 426)

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (2)*}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:148-150][19910420:0953mm]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (2)*}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

[continued]

‘Since it was expected of the Muslim that he should learn the Koran by heart, easy legibility of the texts was not essential, but dignity and beauty were sought. So from the earliest times the arabic script developed formal style, while the scribe or calligraphic designer ranked as the highest of artists.**

***

*[See [Redbook9:126-127][19910415:0840dd]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (1)}[15th April 1991]]

**ref [[Redbook9:134][19910420:0953i]{Art Cycles (2 [continued])}[20th April 1991],] 134

*** – E[ncyclopaedia of] V[isual] A[rts] 3:425

[Source text continues in next ts journal entry]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Unity of Functions (continued)]}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:147][19910420:0953ll]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Unity of Functions (continued)]}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

[continued]

*

**

*[continued from last previous ts journal entry]

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 100

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Unity of Functions]}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:147][19910420:0953kk]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [Unity of Functions]}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

[continued]

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 100

[continues in next ts journal entry]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [A millenary artistic tradition?]}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:147][19910420:0953jj]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] [A millenary artistic tradition?]}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

[continued]

The article* describes Islamic art specifically as ‘a millenary artistic tradition’.** (The article does not cover arts produced in cultural areas that were only partially Muslim.)***

*[Encyclopaedia Britannica 22: 44-102: Islamic Arts]

** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:99]

***(per ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 44

[continued]

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