The Islamic world view is distinct from that of the west, devout Muslims see the world centered on the sanctuary at Mecca, towards which they are obliged to pray five times a day. This is reflected in artistic depictions of the Ka'ba.

17th century map from Tunesia showing Mecca in the center of the Islamic world
Turkish tile of 1666, plan of the Ka'ba
View of the Ka'ba from a Timurid manuscript, 1411

In the first years of Islam, Muslim Arabs conquered a vast empire comprising lands of the former Persian and Roman empires, areas with centuries-old traditions in the arts.  By contrast the Arabs had few indigenous art forms. The most significant was the Arabic script, which assumed great importance in Islamic art.  Islam is a religion of the book, the Koran, which contains the word of God as transmitted to the prophet Muhammad. The word of God, as conveyed in the Koran is sacred and many devout Muslims know the entire Koran by heart. Since by tradition there were no figural images in books of the Koran or in mosques, quotations from the Koran, written in elaborate calligraphy assumed a large role in their decoration. The flowing and graceful forms of the Arabic script also influenced the formal qualities of Islamic art. Among Islamic artists, the calligraphers were honored above painters. Arabic script changed over time. In the early centuries, a simple square Kufic script was preferred, but the more flowing Naskhi became common in later centuries. Islamic calligraphy is as aesthetically subtle as the work of twentieth-century western abstract artists.

Kufic Manuscripts, 9-10th century
Samanid plates with Kufic inscriptions, 10th century
Ashtarjan, Congregational Mosque, Calligraphy from the sanctuary iwan, 1315-16
Great Mosque at Isfahan, kibla wall added by Uljaytu, 1310
Kashan ware bowl, 13th century
Calligraphy from a manuscript of the Anthology of Jami, 15th century

Calligraphic page preserved in the Album of the Conqueror, 15th cen.
Compare Mondrian, Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942-3

A typical Islamic decoration is the "arabesque," (The name was given by nineteenth-century art historians.) formed of abstracted floral elements--stems, leaves, flowers spread in an all-over curvilinear pattern across a surface. Such patterns evolved from depictions of the acanthus plant and grape vines in late Roman art. This "arabesque" pattern was developed early in the history of Islamic art and remained typical over the centuries.

Acanthus relief from the Ara Pacis, Roman c. 3 b.c.
Relief from facade of Mshatta, Umayyad, c. 750
Carved wooden relief from the Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem c. 780
Stucco from Samarra, Abbasid, 9th century
Maragha, Gunbad-i-Surkh, Seljuk, 1147-48
Ushak Star Carpet, Ottoman, late 16th cen.
Dome of the Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Safavid, 1611-1629

Islamic architects have created some of the most extraordinary buildings in the history of architecture. Throughout Islamic history, Islamic architects have been influenced by the building traditions of other cultures and in turn have influenced them.

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, begun 687
 

The third holiest shrine in Islam. It was built over the remains of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, following the model of the domed rotunda built over the tomb of Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcre in Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock thus exemplified the complex relations among Muslims, Jews and Christians.  Such interactions were not merely theoretical, but expressed competing religious and political viewpoints that are as sharply divisive (if not more so) today than they were in the seventh century.

Isfahan, Congregational Mosque, North dome, 1088
Chartres, Cathedral of Notre Dame, 1194-1220

Islamic architects were technically and aesthetically more sophisticated in the Middle Ages than their contemporaries in western Europe, including the builders of Chartres Cathedral.

Samarra, Great Mosque and Minaret, 848-852
Thanksgiving Square Chapel, Dallas, Phillip Johnson, 1977

Contemporary architects have often been influenced by Islamic monuments. In fact, the use of tile on the north side of our own Packard Hall was probably influenced by the Islamic buildings that Edward Larabee Barnes saw in Iran when he designed the building of the American Consulate in Tabriz.

In the nineteenth century artists and writers "discovered" the art and culture of the Near East as many areas of the Islamic world came under western European domination. The French and English were active in Egypt, Palestine and India. A school of nineteenth-century European painters, the "Orientalists" painted evocative and often imaginary images of the Muslim world. Erotic fantasies of life in the harem were a favorite western subject. Some artists traveled to the Near East: Gêrome to Egypt, Delacroix to Algeria. Others relied on images in travel books or exhibits of the Near East that were featured in world expositions. Some artists, like Gêrome, painted exotic subjects in their typical western style. Others, especially Matisse, incorporated the flat patterns and bright colors of Islamic art into their own styles.

Gêrome, General Bonaparte in Cairo c. 1863
David Roberts, A Procession Passing the Tombs of the Caliphs in Cairo, 1846
View of the tombs of the Caliphs, Cairo, Mosque of Qa'itbay, 1472-74
L. Belly, Pilgrimage to Mecca, 1861
Compare Islamic manuscript, Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237
Gêrome, Muezzin's Call to Prayer, c. 1879-80
Gêrome, Prayer in Mosque of Qa'itbay, c. 1895
Compare Islamic manuscript, Maqamat of al Hariri, 1237
Gêrome, Prayer in Mosque of 'Amr, 1872
Gêrome, Scenes of Bathers, 1870s, 1880s
Ingres, Odalisque and Slave, 1842
Ingres, Grande Odalisque, 1814
Ingres, Turkish Bath, 1852-63
Delacroix, The Fanatics of Tangir, 1838
 
 

Delacroix, Page from the Morocco Sketchbook, April 1832	Matisse, Moorish Screen, 1921-22

Delacroix, Women of Algiers, 1834
Matisse, Odalisque in Red Trousers, 1921
Compare tiles from Selimiye Complex, Edirne, 1569-75

Siah Armajani, Bridge at NOAA, Seattle, 1983
    Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, Minneapolis, 1988

Siah Armajani, an Iranian-American artist, uses inscriptions from American literature in his public sculpture projects. Such a use of words parallels the importance of inscriptions in Islamic art.

Islamic carpets are probably the most familiar works of Islamic art to western Europeans and Americans. Hand-knotted carpets have always been prized in Islamic cultures. The craft goes back to the traditions of nomads, who used carpets because they were portable, practical and a way of displaying wealth. As early as the 16th century, carpets were exported to western Europe. They are often prominently displayed in western European paintings.

H. Holbein, French Ambassadors, 1533
H. Holbein, Madonna of Burgermaster Mayer, 1528
Detail of a Turkish "Holbein" Carpet, c. 1500
Gerome, The Rug Merchant c. 1887
Medallion patterned Turkish carpet
Kashan Rug, modern
Ottoman Prayer Rug, Gordes, 18th century
Persian Carpet with hunting scenes, 16th century
Persian garden carpet, 17th century
15th century Mamluk (Egyptian) carpet, the Simonetti Carpet
17th century Persian "Polonaise" Carpet
 
 

Write a short paper comparing an Islamic painting to a western European one.  Choose one of the comparisons below or devise your own.  The slides are on reserve in the Art and Music Library.  All the Islamic examples are relatively small paintings from books of Persian poetry. The western examples are large oil paintings or wall frescoes. Try to articulate the major differences in the organization of the composition, the use of space, color and line. How do these factors affect your perceptions of each painting?

Comparisons:
 
 

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