ART OF ISLAM CLASS1 PART 2

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES ON ISLAMIC ARTS

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY SURROUNDED BY REMNANTS OF GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION. CANABALIZED MATERIALS FOR ISLAMIC BUILDINGS. ADOPTED SOME MOTIFS AND TECHNIQUES

ROMAN PANTHEON AND DOME OF THE ROCK

BYZANTINE AND SASSANIANS TWO GREAT EMPIRES IN NEAR EAST AT TIME OF FOUNDING OF ISLAM. ENGAGED IN LONG-TERM WAR AND RIVALRY. BYZANTIUM WAS EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE AND CONTINUATION OF CLASSCAL ROME. ENDED IN 1453 WITH FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. SASSANIAN EMPIRE COVERED PARTS OF TODAY’S TURKEY, IRAN AFGHANISTAN FROM CE. DEFEATED AND ABSORBED INTO CALIPHATE.

WHICH IS BYZANTINE?

THE SIX GREAT THEMES COMMON TO MOST ISLAMIC ARTS

FOUR FROM NATURE TWO FROM HUMANITY THE FOUR THEMES FROM NATURE ARE: INFINITY, NIGHT, THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER/WATER. THE TWO THEMES FROM HUMANITY ARE: THE BELOVED AND THE GARDEN. THE THEMES CAN BE FOUND IN MUSIC, LITERATURE, ARCHITECTURE, DECORATIVE ARTS, ETC. THEY EXIST ACROSS TIME AND CULTURES.

INFINITY I sent my Soul through the Invisible, Some letter of that After-life to spell. And ay my soul returned to me’ Saying I myself am Heaven and Hell Omar Khayyam Persia The vastness and emptiness of the landscape created a sense of endlessness. The ability of caravans to travel in this landscape contributed. Repeating designs and motifs are representative of infinity. Arabesque is a term applied to some of these designs.

Night NIGHT IN MANY PARTS OF ISLAMIC WORLD IS MOST ACTIVE TIME OF DAY. NIGHT SKY GIVES DEFINITION TO THE INFINITY OF LANDSCAPE. MUSIC AND POETRY 2 ARTS FORMS MOST COMMONLY CELEBRATING NIGHT. LEILA OR VARIATION MOST COMMON WOMEN’S NAME IN ARABIC SPEAKING NATIONS.

THE BELOVED BELOVED IS CELEBRATED IN MOST ART FORMS BUT ESPECIALLY IN LITERATURE AND MINATURE PAINTING. MYSTICS OFTEN BLUR LINE BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND DIVINE WHEN SPEAKING OF BELOVED. LONGING IS COMMON CHARACTERISTIC OF RELATIONSHIP WITH BELOVED PERHAPS DUE SEPARATION OF MEN AND WOMEN AFTER CHILDHOOD AND ARRANGED MARRAIGES.

THE MOUNTAIN IN LANSCAPE THE MOUNTAIN REPRESENTS A GOAL TO BE ACHIEVED. SAME IN ARTS. RECALLS HIGH PLACES WHERE GOD WAS WORSHIPED, ESPECIALLY IN ARCHICTECTURE.

WATER/THE RIVER SYMBOL OF LIFE AND SUSTENANCE IN ALL ART FORMS. SMOOTH SURFACES OF GLASS AND CERAMICS ONE MIMIC OF WATER’S CHARACTERISTICS. BLUE TONES USED IN MANY TYPICAL VISUAL ART FORMS REFLECTION OF THIS. WORDS AZURE AND TURQUOISE COME FROM ISLAMIC USE OF BLUES.

THE GARDEN “PARADISE” COMES FROM PERSIAN WORD FOR GARDEN. GARDENS ARE A PREVIEW OF THE WORLD TO COME. CREATED BY HUMAN INTENTION JUST AS HUMAN FATE IS DETERMINED BY INDIVIDUAL INTENTION.

THE ROLE OF HOSPITALITY IN THE JUST AND EQUITABLE SOCIETY

EVERY GUEST IS A GIFT FROM GOD GEOGRAPHY, TRADE AND PILGRIMAGE CREATED NEED FOR HOSPITALITY. BOTH RELIGION AND CULTURES OF ISLAMIC WORLD SUPPORTED NEED. SHARING WHAT ONE HAS WITH STRANGER BECAME MARK OF PIOUSNESS.

“WELCOME TO YOUR HOME” HOSPITALITY IS GENUINE. ESTABLISHS MUTUAL RELATIONSHIPS AND OBLIGATIONS WHICH TRANSFER ACROSS TIME AND PLACE. PROVIDES FOR SAFTEY AND PREDICTABILITY DURING TRAVEL. REINFORCES IDEA OF GREATER ISLAMIC COMMUNMITY. HOSPITALITY NOT LIMITED TO MUSLIMS