Islamic Art and Architecture

Islamic Arts

Principal Arts 

Arts of the Object   

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Ceramics Metalwork Glass Woodwork Textiles

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Architecture  

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Tombs Mosques

The Arts of the Book  

Calligraphy Illustration

Arts of the Object

Main Styles of Islamic Art  Geometric  Calligraphic

 Organic/Figural  Medallions

Geometric 

Based on mathematical shapes

Calligraphic 

Uses Arabic script as the focal point of a design

Marble foundation stone from Egypt

Organic/Figural 

Identified by: Curving lines  Humans or animal  Flowers or vines 

Medallion 

Central image that is more important than other elements of the design

Pop Quiz Identify the Style

Which Style?

Geometric

Which Style? Organic/Figural  Can you see the bird? 

Which Style? 

Medallion Style

Which Style? Calligraphic  “Science, its taste is bitter at the beginning but, at the end, sweeter than honey.” 

Arabo-Andalusian Music What to listen for:  Timbre  

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Lute Improvisation Microtones  

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Quarter step above the previous note Arabic music has 17 notes

Meter/Tempo Lute

Architecture

Petra   

Rock Tomb Hellenistic similarities What movie? 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Frontal view of the KhaznetFir`awn (the Treasury of Pharoah), a second century A.D. rock tomb in Petra.

Three Styles of Mosques

Hypostyle Mosque 

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Prayer hall is formed of rows of columns Usually multiple columns vertically Dominant style in the early period

Hypostyle Hall of the Mosque of the Umayyad, Damascus

Central-Dome Mosque 

Prayer hall's space is dominated by a central dome surrounded by smaller and lower semidomes. The Selimiyye Mosque in Edirne

Iwan Mosque 

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Prayer hall is an iwan, or up to four iwans, surrounding a courtyard. Most popular type in the medieval period Two of the Four Iwan of the Friday Mosque in Isfahan

Minaret, a tower from which criers call the prayers.

The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra)

The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra)

View of the interior of the Dome of the Rock, showing the inner ambulatory arcade.

Ka'ba in Mecca Masjid al-Haram 

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Center of worship and pilgrimage The qibla towards which worshippers face when praying.

Arts of the Book

Calligraphy Calligraphy – beautiful writing  The most revered form of artistic expression in the Islamic world  Word of God in visual form 

Characteristics of Calligraphy 

Earliest form of Arabic script was called Kufic script.

• Pages from the Koran, Syria or Iraq. 9th century • Ink, pigments, and gold on vellum, 8” x 11 ½”

Qur'an (Koran) 

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The red dots above and below the letters indicate accents The medallion in the margin signifies a text division

Illustrations