1. THE ISLAMIC WORLD
GARDNER 13-2 PP

2. (7-187) FOLIO FROM A QUR’AN Arab, North Africa, or Near East Abbassid c. eighth to ninth century C.E. Ink, color, and gold on parchment
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Calligraphy is the most prized art form -> appears on most Islamic works of art
Faithful wanted to reproduce the Koran’s sacred words in as beautiful a script as humanly possible
The practice of calligraphy was a holy task and required long and arduous training
This Koran page shows the stately rectilinear Kufic script -> five text lines and a palm tree finial -> characteristically does not include depictions of animals or humans

3. (3-56/1) GREAT MOSQUE Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c. 785-786 Stone masonry
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The Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the oldest structures still standing from the time Muslims ruled Al- Andalus (Muslim Iberia including most of Spain, Portugal, and a small section of Southern France) in the late 8th century

4. (3-56/2) GREAT MOSQUE Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c. 785-786 Stone masonry
The building itself was expanded over two hundred years. It is comprised of a large hypostyle prayer hall (hypostyle means, filled with columns), a courtyard with a fountain in the middle, an orange grove, a covered walkway circling the courtyard, and a minaret (a tower used to call the faithful to prayer) that is now encased in a squared, tapered bell tower.
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5. (3-56/3) GREAT MOSQUE Detail Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c
(3-56/3) GREAT MOSQUE Detail Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c Stone masonry
Exterior view Mosque of Córdoba Moorish Portal: Arabesque above portal, South side of the Mezquita The pointed arch and multilobed arches are characteristic of mosques.
The horseshoe-style arch was common in the architecture of the Visigoths, the people that ruled this area after the Roman Empire collapsed and before the Umayyads arrived. The horseshoe arch eventually spread across North Africa from Morocco to Egypt and is an easily identified characteristic of Western Islamic architecture
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6. (3-56/4) GREAT MOSQUE Great Mosque arches Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c
(3-56/4) GREAT MOSQUE Great Mosque arches Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c Stone masonry
Interior of the Mosque -> hypostyle prayer hall with some of the 36 piers and 514 columns
The Spanish Umayyad dynasty lasted almost three centuries became the center of a brilliant culture rivaling that of the Abbasids in Baghdad & exerted major influence on the civilization of the Christian West.
The jewel of the capital at Cordoba was the mosque which was expanded in the late 900s & became the largest in the Islamic West.
The mosaicists & the tessserae were brought to Spain from Constantinople by the caliph.
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7. (3-56/5) GREAT MOSQUE Great Mosque PLAN Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c
(3-56/5) GREAT MOSQUE Great Mosque PLAN Cordoba, Spain Umayyad c Stone masonry
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8. Dome in front of the mihrab of the Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain, 961-965
Dome rests on an octagonal base of arctuated squinches -> crisscrossing ribs form an intricate decorative pattern
Byzantine artists fashioned the mosaic ornament

9. (3-57) Pyxis of al-Mughira Umayyad c. 968 C.E. Ivory
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Calligraphic inscription -> identifies the owner, asks for Allah’s blessings, and tells us the function of the pyxis
Function -> container for expensive aromatics
Gift for the caliph’s younger son
Horror vacui
Vegetal and geometric motfis
Eight medallion scenes -> pleasure activities of the court
From Muslim Spain

10. LATER ISLAMIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE
ISLAMIC SPAIN
In the early 11th century the Umayyad caliphs’ power in Spain falls apart
Berber soldiers rule southern Spain for several generations
The Muslim capital of Cordoba fell to the Christians in 1236
From 1236 until the final defeat of the Muslims in Spain in 1492 an Arab dynasty called the Nasrids rules what’s left from the their capital at Granada
New regional centers of Islamic art and architecture appear in the 2nd millennium
Key centers of later Islamic art and architecture are the Middle East, Turkey, and Spain

11. ALHAMBRA PALACE Granada, Spain Nasrid Dynasty 1354-1391 C. E
ALHAMBRA PALACE Granada, Spain Nasrid Dynasty C.E. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gilding
In Granada the Nasrids construct a huge palace- fortress called the Alhambra = “the Red” in Arabic because of the rose colored stone used for its walls and 23 towers

12. (3-65/1) ALHAMBRA PALACE
Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain. Nasrid Dynasty, , whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gilding
Palace of the Nasrid sultans of Southern Spain
Light, airy interiors; fortress-like exterior
Built on a hill overlooking the city of Granada
Contains palaces, gardens, water pools, fountains, and courtyards
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13. (3-65/2) ALHAMBRA PALACE Court of the Lions Granada, Spain Nasrid Dynasty C.E. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gilding
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Thin columns support heavy roofs -> a feeling of weightlessness
Intricately patterned and sculpted ceilings and walls
Central fountain supported by protective lions -> animal imagery permitted in secular monuments
Parts of the walls are chiseled through to create vibrant light patterns within

14. (3-65/3) ALHAMBRA PALACE Hall of the Sisters Granada, Spain Nasrid Dynasty C.E. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gilding
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Sixteen windows at top of the hall -> light dissolves into a honeycomb of stalactites that dangle from the ceiling
Abstract pattern, abstraction of forms
5,000 muquarnas -> carved stucco onto ceiling
Highly sophisticated and refined interior -> perhaps used as a music room or for receptions

15. Muqarnas dome, Hall of the Two Sisters, Alhambra palace, Granada, Spain, 1354– 1391.
Dome sits on octagonal drum supported by squinches -> pierced by 8 pairs of windows
Ceiling covered with 5,000 muqarnas -> intended to catch and reflect sunlight -> form beautiful abstract patterns -> symbolizes the dome of Heaven
MUQARNA = a honeycomb-like decoration often applied in Islamic buildings to domes, niches, capitals, or vaults -> the surface resembles intricate stalactites
The Alhambra

16. Hall of the Sisters -> in the interior of the Alhambra Palace -> palace of the Nasrid sultans of Southern Spain

17. (3-65/3) ALHAMBRA PALACE Alhambra Palace plan Granada, Spain Nasrid Dynasty C.E. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gilding
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18. Of the outlying buildings in connection with the Alhambra, the foremost in interest is the Palacio de Generalife or Gineralife (the Muslim Jennat al Arif, or "Garden of the Architect").
This villa probably dates from the end of the 13th century, but has been several times restored.
Its gardens, however, with their clipped hedges, grottos, fountains, and cypress avenues, are said to retain their original Moorish character.
The Alhambra

19. detail of an arabesque from the Alhambra
Most design elements in Islamic world are based on plant motifs -> sometimes intermingled w/abstract geometric shapes and, in secular settings, with animal figures
Natural forms are so stylized that they are lost in the purely decorative tracery of the tendrils, leaves, and stalks
These arabesques, as they are often called because they are so characteristic of Islamic (“Arab”) art, form a pattern that covers an entire surface, whether that of a small utensil or the wall of a building.
Patterns have no function but to decorate.
detail of an arabesque from the Alhambra
Islamic art features 3 types of patterns:
Arabesques
Calligraphy
tessellation

20. OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Between 9th-11th centuries the Turkic people convert to Islam
Ottoman dynasty was founded by Osman I -> under his successors the Ottomans expand for 2 ½ centuries into Asia, Europe, and N. Africa
Ottoman emperors were lavish patrons of architecture
Dome covered square is the nucleus of all Ottoman architecture
Ottomans conquer Constantinople in > Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia is converted into a mosque w/minarets
Central plan mosque is the basic form of Ottoman building

21. (3-84/1) MOSQUE OF SELIM II EXTERIOR Edirne, Turkey Sinan (architect) 1568-1575 C.E. Brick and stone
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Sinan = the most famous Ottoman architect -> chief court architect for Suleyman the Magnificent
Mosque w/massive dome and four pencil thin minarets -> dome is higher than Hagia Sophia
Regarded as the climax of Ottoman architecture, Sinan’s forms are clear and legible, like mathematical equations. Height, width, and masses are related to one another in a simple but effective ratio of 1:2

22. (3-84/2) MOSQUE OF SELIM II INTERIOR Edirne, Turkey Sinan (architect) C.E. Brick and stone C.E. Brick and stone
Interior of Mosque of Selim II designed by Sinan the Great
Main hall is an octagon formed by 8 massive dome supports -> four half dome-covered corners of the square
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23. (3-84/3) MOSQUE OF SELIM II Mosque of Selim II plan Edirne, Turkey Sinan (architect) C.E. Brick and stone C.E. Brick and stone
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