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Islamic Art

Islamic art encompasses visual arts produced from the seventh century onwards past culturally Islamic populations.

Learning Objectives

Identify the influences and the specific attributes of Islamic art

Fundamental Takeaways

Primal Points

• Islamic art is not art of a specific religion, time, place, or of a single medium . Instead it spans some 1400 years, covers many lands and populations, and includes a range of creative fields including architecture, calligraphy , painting, drinking glass, ceramics , and textiles, amidst others.
• Islamic religious art differs from Christian religious art in that it is non-figural because many Muslims believe that the depiction of the human form is idolatry , and thereby a sin confronting God, forbidden in the Qur'an. Calligraphy and architectural elements are given important religious significance in Islamic fine art.
• Islamic art developed from many sources: Roman, early on Christian art, and Byzantine styles ; Sassanian art of pre-Islamic Persia; Central Asian styles brought by various nomadic incursions, and Chinese influences announced on Islamic painting, pottery , and textiles.

Central Terms

• Qu'ran: The central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the verbatim word of God (Standard arabic: Allah). It is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language.
• arabesque: A repetitive, stylized pattern based on a geometrical floral or vegetal design.
• idolatry: The worship of idols.
• monotheistic: Believing in a single god, deity, spirit, etc., especially for an organized religion, religion, or creed.

Islam

Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic faith articulated past the Qur'an, a volume considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Allah) and the teachings of Muhammad , who is considered to be the concluding prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.

Most Muslims are of ii denominations: Sunni (75–ninety%),[seven] or Shia (x–20%). Its essential religious concepts and practices include the five pillars of Islam, which are bones concepts and obligatory acts of worship, and the following of Islamic police, which touches on every aspect of life and guild. The 5 pillars are:

1. Shahadah (conventionalities or confession of faith)
2. Salat (worship in the form of prayer)
3. Sawm Ramadan (fasting during the month of Ramadan)
4. Zakat (alms or charitable giving)
5. Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime)

Islamic Fine art

Islamic fine art encompasses the visual arts produced from the seventh century onward past both Muslims and not-Muslims who lived within the territory that was inhabited by, or ruled by, culturally Islamic populations. It is thus a very difficult art to define because it spans some 1400 years, roofing many lands and populations. This art is also not of a specific religion, fourth dimension, place, or single medium. Instead Islamic fine art covers a range of artistic fields including compages, calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, and textiles, among others.

Islamic art is non restricted to religious fine art, only instead includes all of the art of the rich and varied cultures of Islamic societies. Information technology ofttimes includes secular elements and elements that are forbidden past some Islamic theologians. Islamic religious fine art differs greatly from Christian religious art traditions.

Because figural representations are generally considered to be forbidden in Islam, the word takes on religious pregnant in art equally seen in the tradition of calligraphic inscriptions. Calligraphy and the decoration of manuscript Qu'rans is an important aspect of Islamic art equally the word takes on religious and artistic significance.

Islamic architecture, such as mosques and palatial gardens of paradise, are also embedded with religious significance. While examples of Islamic figurative painting do be, and may cover religious scenes, these examples are typically from secular contexts, such as the walls of palaces or illuminated books of poetry.

Other religious art, such equally glass mosque lamps, Girih tiles, woodwork, and carpets commonly demonstrate the same style and motifs equally gimmicky secular art, although they exhibit more prominent religious inscriptions.

A calligraphic panel by Mustafa Râkim (late 18th–early 19th century): Islamic art has focused on the delineation of patterns and Standard arabic calligraphy, rather than on figures, because it is feared past many Muslims that the depiction of the homo form is idolatry. The panel reads: "God, there is no god simply He, the Lord of His prophet Muhammad (peace exist upon him) and the Lord of all that has been created."

Islamic art was influenced by Greek, Roman, early Christian, and Byzantine art styles, too as the Sassanian art of pre-Islamic Persia. Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences had a formative effect on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles.

Themes of Islamic Art

There are repeating elements in Islamic art, such as the use of stylized , geometrical floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known equally the arabesque . The arabesque in Islamic art is often used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of God. Some scholars believe that mistakes in repetitions may be intentionally introduced every bit a show of humility by artists who believe but God tin produce perfection.

Arabesque inlays at the Mughal Agra Fort, India: Geometrical designs in repetition, know as Arabesque, are used in Islamic art to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible, and infinite nature of God.

Typically, though not entirely, Islamic art has focused on the depiction of patterns and Arabic calligraphy, rather than human being or brute figures, because it is believed by many Muslims that the depiction of the human form is idolatry and thereby a sin against God that is forbidden in the Qur'an.

However, depictions of the human form and animals can be found in all eras of Islamic secular fine art. Depictions of the human form in art intended for the purpose of worship is considered idolatry and is forbidden in Islamic police, known as Sharia police.

Islamic Compages

Islamic compages encompasses a wide range of styles and the principal instance is the mosque.

Learning Objectives

Describe the development of mosques, and their dissimilar features during different periods and dynasties

Cardinal Takeaways

Key Points

• A specifically recognizable Islamic architectural way emerged before long after Muhammad'southward time that incorporated Roman edifice traditions with the addition of localized adaptations of the former Sassanid and Byzantine models.
• The Islamic mosque has historically been both a place of prayer and a customs coming together space . The early mosques are believed to be inspired by Muhammad's home in Medina, which was the commencement mosque.

Key Terms

• mosque: A identify of worship for Muslims, corresponding to a church or synagogue in other religions, frequently having at least ane minaret. In Arabic: masjid.
• mihrab: A semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque, that indicates the qibla (management of Mecca), and into which the imam prays.
• minaret: The tall slender tower of an Islamic mosque, from which the muezzin recites the adhan (telephone call to prayer).

Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles. The principal Islamic architectural instance is the mosque. A specifically recognizable Islamic architectural style emerged soon afterwards Muhammad'south fourth dimension that incorporated Roman building traditions with the addition of localized adaptations of the sometime Sassanid and Byzantine models.

Early on Mosques

The Islamic mosque has historically been both a place of prayer and a community meeting space. The early mosques are believed to be inspired past Muhammad's dwelling in Medina, which was the first mosque.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan (in Tunisia) is 1 of the all-time preserved and most significant examples of early swell mosques. Founded in 670, it contains all of the architectural features that distinguish early mosques: a minaret , a big courtyard surrounded past porticos , and a hypostyle prayer hall.

Dome of the mihrab (ninth century) in the Slap-up Mosque of Kairouan, also known as the Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan, Tunisia: This is considered to be the ancestor of all the mosques in the western Islamic world.

Ottoman Mosques

Ottoman mosques and other architecture offset emerged in the cities of Bursa and Edirne in the 14th and 15th centuries, developing from before Seljuk Turk architecture, with additional influences from Byzantine, Persian, and Islamic Mamluk traditions.

Sultan Mehmed 2 would later fuse European traditions in his rebuilding programs at Istanbul in the 19th century. Byzantine styles as seen in the Hagia Sophia served as especially important models for Ottoman mosques, such as the mosque constructed by Sinan.

Building reached its top in the 16th century when Ottoman architects mastered the technique of building vast inner spaces surmounted by seemingly weightless yet incredibly massive domes , and achieved perfect harmony between inner and outer spaces, as well as articulated calorie-free and shadow.

They incorporated vaults , domes, foursquare dome plans, slender corner minarets, and columns into their mosques, which became sanctuaries of transcendently aesthetic and technical residuum, equally may be observed in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey: The Blue Mosque represents the culmination of Ottoman construction with its numerous domes, slender minarets and overall harmony.

Architecture flourished in the Safavid Dynasty , attaining a high bespeak with the building programme of Shah Abbas in Isfahan, which included numerous gardens, palaces (such as Ali Qapu), an immense boutique, and a big majestic mosque. Isfahan, the uppercase  of both the Seljuk and Safavid dynasties, bears the most prominent samples of the Safavid architecture, such as the the Imperial Mosque, which was constructed in the years after Shah Abbas I permanently moved the upper-case letter there in 1598.

Imperial Mosque, Isfahan, Iran: Isfahan, the capital of both the Seljuk and Safavid dynasties, bears the well-nigh prominent samples of the Safavid compages.

Islamic Glass Making

Glassmaking was the well-nigh important Islamic luxury art of the early on Middle Ages.

Learning Objectives

Depict the art of Islamic drinking glass

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• Between the 8th and early on 11th centuries, the emphasis in luxury drinking glass was on effects accomplished past manipulating the surface of the glass, initially by incising into the glass on a wheel, and later past cutting abroad the background to exit a blueprint in relief .
• Lustre painting uses techniques similar to lustreware in pottery and dates back to the eighth century in Egypt; it became widespread in the twelfth century.

Central Terms

• luxury arts: Highly decorative goods made of precious materials for the wealthy classes.
• glassmaking: The arts and crafts or industry of producing glass.

Islamic Glass

For well-nigh of the Middle Ages , Islamic luxury glass was the well-nigh sophisticated in Eurasia , exported to both Europe and China. Islam took over much of the traditional glass-producing territory of Sassanian and Ancient Roman glass. Since figurative decoration played a small-scale role in pre-Islamic glass, the change in mode was not sharp—except that the whole area initially formed a political whole, and, for example, Western farsi innovations were now almost immediately taken up in Egypt.

For this reason it is oftentimes impossible to distinguish between the various centers of production (of which Egypt, Syria, and Persia were the nigh important), except by scientific analysis of the material, which itself has difficulties. From various documentary references, glassmaking and glass-trading seems to have been a specialty of the Jewish minority.

Betwixt the eighth and early 11th centuries, the emphasis in luxury drinking glass was on effects achieved past manipulating the surface of the drinking glass, initially by incising into the drinking glass on a bike, and afterwards by cutting away the background to get out a design in relief. The very massive Hedwig spectacles, but found in Europe, but normally considered Islamic (or possibly from Muslim craftsmen in Norman Sicily), are an instance of this, though they are puzzlingly late in date.

These and other glass pieces probably represented cheaper versions of vessels of carved rock crystal (clear quartz)—themselves influenced by earlier glass vessels—and there is some evidence that at this period glass and hard-stone cutting were regarded as the same craft. From the 12th century, the glass industry in Persia and Mesopotamia declined, and the main production of luxury glass shifted to Arab republic of egypt and Syria. Throughout this flow, local centers made simpler wares, such every bit Hebron glass in Palestine.

The Luck of Edenhall: This is a 13th-century Syrian beaker, in England since the Middle Ages. For most of the Middle Ages, Islamic glass was the most sophisticated in Eurasia, exported to both Europe and China.

Lustre painting

Lustre painting, past techniques similar to lustreware in pottery, dates back to the 8th century in Arab republic of egypt, and involves the application of metal pigments during the glass-making process. Another technique used by artisans was decoration with threads of glass of a dissimilar color, worked into the primary surface, and sometimes manipulated by combing and other effects.

Gilt, painted, and enameled drinking glass were added to the repertoire, every bit were shapes and motifs borrowed from other media , such every bit pottery and metalwork . Some of the finest work was in mosque lamps donated by a ruler or wealthy human being.

As decoration grew more than elaborate, the quality of the basic glass decreased, and it often exhibited bubbles and a brownish-yellow tinge. Aleppo ceased to be a major center after the Mongol invasion of 1260, and Timur appears to accept concluded the Syrian glass manufacture around 1400 past conveying off the skilled workers to Samarkand. Past about 1500, the Venetians were receiving big orders for mosque lamps.

Some of the finest piece of work was in mosque lamps donated by a ruler or wealthy man. As ornament grew more elaborate, the quality of the bones glass decreased, and it oftentimes exhibited bubbles and a brownish-yellowish tinge. Aleppo ceased to exist a major centre after the Mongol invasion of 1260, and Timur appears to have ended the Syrian industry effectually 1400 by carrying off the skilled workers to Samarkand. By about 1500, the Venetians were receiving large orders for mosque lamps.

Mosque lamp: Produced in Arab republic of egypt, c. 1360.

Islamic Calligraphy

Calligraphic design was omnipresent in Islamic art in the Middle Ages, and is seen in all types of art including architecture and the decorative arts.

Learning Objectives

Explain the purpose and characteristics of Islamic calligraphy

Key Takeaways

Central Points

• In a religion where figural representations are considered an act of idolatry , information technology is no surprise that the word and its artistic representation became an of import aspect in Islamic fine art.
• The earliest form of Arabic calligraphy is Kufic script .
• Also Quranic verses, other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions recording ownership or donation.

Key Terms

• Kufic script: The primeval form of Arabic calligraphy, noted for its athwart form.
• calligraphy: The art of writing messages and words with decorative strokes.

In a religion where figural representations are considered an human activity of idolatry, it is no surprise that  the word and its artistic representation became an important attribute in Islamic art. The about important religious text in Islam is the Quran, which is believed to be the give-and-take of God. In that location are many examples of calligraphy and calligraphic inscriptions pertaining to verses from the Quran in Islamic arts.

9th century Quran: This early Quran demonstrates the Kufic script, noted for its angular form and as the earliest form of Standard arabic calligraphy .

The earliest form of Standard arabic calligraphy is Kufic script, which is noted for its angular class.  Arabic is read from right to left and merely the consonants are written.  The black ink in the image to a higher place from a 9th century Quran marks the consonants for the reader.  The red dots that are visible on the page note the vowels.

However, calligraphic design is not limited to the book in Islamic fine art. Calligraphy is institute in several different types of art, such as architecture. The interior of the Dome of the Stone (Jerusalem, circa 691), for example, features calligraphic inscriptions of verses from the Quran as well as from additional sources. As in Europe in the Eye Ages , religious exhortations such every bit Quranic verses may be included in secular objects, specially coins, tiles, and metalwork .

Interior view of the Dome of the Stone: The interior of The Dome of the Rock features many calligraphic inscriptions, from both the Quran and other sources; it demonstrates the importance of calligraphy in Islamic art and its utilize in several dissimilar media.

Calligraphic inscriptions were not exclusive to the Quran, just as well included verses of poetry or recorded ownership or donation. Calligraphers were highly regarded in Islam, which reinforces the importance of the word and its religious and creative significance.

Islamic Book Painting

Manuscript painting in the late medieval Islamic world reached its height in Persia, Syrian arab republic, Iraq, and the Ottoman Empire.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the origin and development of Islamic manuscript painting

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The art of the Persian book was born nether the Ilkhanid dynasty and encouraged past the patronage of aristocrats for big illuminated manuscripts .
• Islamic manuscript painting witnessed its first gilded age in the 13th century when it was influenced by the Byzantine visual vocabulary and combined with Mongol facial types from 12th-century volume frontispieces.
• Nether the rule of the Safavids in Islamic republic of iran (1501 to 1786), the art of manuscript illumination achieves new heights, in particular in the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, an immense re-create of Ferdowsi'due south ballsy poem that contains more than 250 paintings.
• The medieval Islamic texts called Maqamat were some of the primeval coffee-table books and amid the first Islamic art to mirror daily life.
• Masterpieces of Ottoman manuscript illustration include the ii books of festivals, one from the end of the 16th century and the other from the era of Sultan Murad III.

Fundamental Terms

• Mongols: An umbrella term for a big grouping of Mongolic and Turkic tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan in the 13th century.
• illuminated manuscripts: A book in which the text is supplemented by the addition of ornament, such as decorated initials, borders (marginalia), and miniature illustrations.
• miniature: An illustration in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript.
• muraqqa: An anthology in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and specimens of Islamic calligraphy, usually from several different sources, and possibly other affair.
• Maqamat: The plural for Maqāma, an Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poesy that frequently ruminates on spiritual topics.

Islamic Book Painting

Book painting in the late medieval Islamic world reached its height in Persia, Syria, Iraq, and the Ottoman Empire . The art form blossomed across the different regions and was inspired by a range of cultural reference points.

The evolution of book painting first began in the 13th century, when the Mongols, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, swept through the Islamic world. Upon the death of Genghis Khan, his empire was divided among his sons and dynasties formed: the Yuan in China, the Ilkhanids in Iran, and the Gold Horde in northern Iran and southern Russia.

The Ilkhanids

The Ilkhanids were a rich civilization that developed nether the piffling khans in Iran. Architectural activity intensified every bit the Mongols became sedentary yet retained traces of their nomadic origins, such as the north–south orientation of buildings. Persian, Islamic, and Due east Asian traditions melded together during this period and a process of Iranization took place, in which construction according to previously established types, such every bit the Iranian-plan mosques , was resumed.

The fine art of the Persian book was born under the Ilkhanid dynasty and encouraged past the patronage of aristocrats for large illuminated manuscripts, such as the Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani. Islamic book painting witnessed its first gilded age in the 13th century, mostly within Syria and Republic of iraq.

Miniatures

The tradition of the Farsi miniature (a pocket-size painting on paper) adult during this flow, and it strongly influenced the Ottoman miniature of Turkey and the Mughal miniature in India. Because illuminated manuscripts were an art of the court, and not seen in public, constraints on the depiction of the human figure were much more than relaxed and the man form is represented with frequency inside this medium.

Influence from the Byzantine visual vocabulary (blue and gold coloring, angelic and victorious motifs, symbology of pall) was combined with Mongol facial types seen in twelfth-century volume frontispieces. Chinese influences in Islamic book painting include the early adoption of the vertical format natural to a volume. Motifs such as peonies, clouds, dragons, and phoenixes were adjusted from People's republic of china as well, and incorporated into manuscript illumination.

Mongol soldiers, in Jami al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani: The Jāmi al-tawārīkh is a work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia. The breadth of the work has caused it to be called the first world history and its lavish illustrations and calligraphy required the efforts of hundreds of scribes and artists.

The largest commissions of illustrated books were usually classics of Persian poesy, such equally the Shahnameh. Under the dominion of the Safavids in Islamic republic of iran (1501 to 1786), the fine art of manuscript illumination achieved new heights. The most noteworthy case of this is the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, an immense copy of Ferdowsi's epic verse form that contains more than 250 paintings.

The Court of Gayumars, from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp: Illuminated manuscripts of the Shahnameh were often commissioned by royal patrons.

Maqamat and Albums

The medieval Islamic texts called Maqamat that were copied and illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, were some of the earliest coffee-tabular array books. They were amid the first texts in Islamic art to hold a mirror to daily life, portraying humorous stories and showing petty adherence to prior pictorial traditions.

In the 17th century a new type of painting developed based effectually the album (muraqqa). The albums were the creations of connoisseurs who bound together single sheets of paintings, drawings, or calligraphy past various artists; they were sometimes excised from earlier books and other times created every bit independent works.

The paintings of Reza Abbasi figure largely in this new form of volume fine art. The grade depicts one or two larger figures, typically idealized beauties in a garden setting, and often employ the grisaille techniques previously used for groundwork border paintings .

Mughal and Ottoman Manuscripts

The Mughals and Ottomans both produced lavish manuscripts of more than recent history with the autobiographies of the Mughal emperors and purely military chronicles of Turkish conquests. Portraits of rulers developed in the 16th century, and later on in Persia, where they became very popular.

Mughal portraits, normally in profile, are very finely fatigued in a realist mode , while the best Ottoman ones are vigorously stylized . Anthology miniatures typically featured picnic scenes, portraits of individuals, or (in Republic of india particularly) animals, or arcadian youthful beauties of either sexual activity.

Masterpieces of Ottoman manuscript illustration include the two books of festivals, one from the terminate of the 16th century and the other from the era of Sultan Murad 3. These books incorporate numerous illustrations and exhibit a potent Safavid influence, possibly inspired by books captured in the grade of the Ottoman–Safavid wars of the 16th century.

Islamic Ceramics

Islamic art has notable achievements in ceramics that reached heights unmatched by other cultures.

Learning Objectives

Talk over how developments such equally tin-opacified glazing and stonepaste ceramics made Islamic ceramics some of the most avant-garde of its time

Cardinal Takeaways

Key Points

• The first Islamic opaque glazes date to around the 8th century, and another significant contribution was the development of stonepaste ceramics in 9th century Iraq.
• Lusterwares with iridescent colors were either invented or considerably developed in Persia and Syrian arab republic from the 9th century onward.
• The techniques, shapes, and decorative motifs of Chinese ceramics were admired and emulated by Islamic potters, especially afterwards the Mongol and Timurid invasions.
• The Hispano–Moresque fashion emerged in the 8th century, with more refined product happening later, presumably by Muslim potters working in areas reconquered past Christian kingdoms.

Key Terms

• Hispano–Moresque mode: A style of Islamic pottery created in Al-Andaluz, or Muslim Spain, which continued to exist produced nether Christian rule in styles that blended Islamic and European elements.
• lusterware: A type of pottery or porcelain having an iridescent metallic glaze.
• glaze: The vitreous coating of pottery or porcelain, or a transparent or semi-transparent layer of paint.
• ceramics: Inorganic, nonmetallic solids created past the activeness of rut and their subsequent cooling. Virtually mutual ceramics are crystalline and the earliest uses of ceramics were in pottery.

Islamic Ceramics

Islamic art has notable achievements in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for buildings, which reached heights unmatched by other cultures . Early pottery had usually been unglazed, merely a tin can-opacified glazing technique was developed by Islamic potters. The first Islamic opaque glazes can be institute equally bluish-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th century.

Some other significant contribution was the development of stonepaste ceramics, originating from ninth century Iraq. The showtime industrial complex for glass and pottery production was built in Ar-Raqqah, Syria, in the 8th century. Other centers for innovative pottery in the Islamic world included Fustat (from 975 to 1075), Damascus (from 1100 to effectually 1600), and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550).

Lusterware

Lusterware is a type of pottery or porcelain that has an iridescent metallic glaze. Luster first began as a painting technique in glassmaking , which was so translated to pottery in Mesopotamia in the ninth century.

10th century dish: Islamic fine art has very notable achievements in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for walls, which reached heights unmatched by other cultures. This dish is from East Persia or Fundamental Asia.

The techniques, shapes, and decorative motifs of Chinese ceramics were admired and emulated past Islamic potters, especially afterwards the Mongol and Timurid invasions. Until the Early Mod flow, Western ceramics had little influence, merely Islamic pottery was highly sought subsequently in Europe, and was often copied.

An instance of this is the albarello, a type of earthenware jar originally designed to agree apothecary ointments and dry drugs. The development of this type of pharmacy jar had its roots in the Islamic Middle Eastward. Hispano–Moresque examples were exported to Italy, inspiring the earliest Italian examples, from 15th century Florence.

Hispano–Moresque Mode

The Hispano–Moresque style emerged in Al-Andaluz, or Muslim Spain, in the 8th century, under Egyptian influence. More refined production happened much later, presumably by Muslim potters who worked in the areas reconquered by the Christian kingdoms.

The Hispano–Moresque mode mixed Islamic and European elements in its designs and was exported to neighboring European countries. The style introduced ii ceramic techniques to Europe:

1. Glazing with an opaque white can-glaze.
2. Painting in metal lusters.

Ottoman Iznik pottery produced near of the finest ceramics of the 16th century—tiles and large vessels boldly decorated with floral motifs that were influenced past Chinese Yuan and Ming ceramics. These were still in earthenware, since porcelain was not made in Islamic countries until modern times.

The medieval Islamic world also painted pottery with beast and human imagery . Examples are constitute throughout the medieval Islamic world, especially in Persia and Egypt.

Islamic Textiles

The near important fabric produced in the Medieval and Early on Modern Islamic Empires was the carpet.

Learning Objectives

Talk over the making and designs of Islamic textiles

Key Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• The production and merchandise of textiles pre-dates Islam , and had long been important to Eye Eastern cultures and cities, many of which flourished due to the Silk Road .
• When the Islamic dynasties formed and grew more powerful they gained control over textile product in the region, which was arguably the most of import craft of the era.

Key Terms

• textile arts: The production of arts and crafts that apply plant, animal, or constructed fibers to create objects.

Islam and the Fabric Arts

The material arts refer to the production of arts and crafts that use establish, animal, or synthetic fibers to create objects. These objects can be for everyday use, or they can be decorative and luxury items. The product and trade of textiles pre-dates Islam, and had long been of import to Heart Eastern cultures and cities, many of which flourished due to the Silk Road.

When the Islamic dynasties formed and grew more powerful they gained control over textile product in the region, which was arguably the most important arts and crafts of the era. The almost of import textile produced in Medieval and Early Modern Islamic Empires was the carpet.

The Ottoman Empire and Carpet Production

The art of carpet weaving was specially important in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman state was founded by Turkish tribes in northwestern Anatolia in 1299 and became an empire in 1453 after the momentous conquest of Constantinople.

Stretching beyond Asia, Europe, and Africa, the Empire was vast and long lived, lasting until 1922 when the monarchy was abolished in Turkey. Inside the Ottoman Empire, carpets were immensely valued as decorative furnishings and for their practical value . They were used not simply on floors merely also as wall and door hangings, where they provided boosted insulation.

These intricately knotted carpets were fabricated of silk, or a combination of silk and cotton fiber, and were often rich in religious and other symbolism. Hereke silk carpets, which were made in the coastal town of Hereke, were the most valued of the Ottoman carpets because of their fine weave. The Hereke carpets were typically used to furnish royal palaces.

Carpet and interior of the Harem room in Topkapi Palace, Istanbul: The Ottoman Turks were famed for the quality of their finely woven and intricately knotted silk carpets.

Persian Carpets

The Iranian Safavid Empire (1501–1786) is distinguished from the Mughal and Ottoman dynasties by the Shia religion of its shahs, which was the majority Islamic denomination in Persia. Safavid art is contributed to several aesthetic traditions, specially to the cloth arts.

In the sixteenth century, carpet weaving evolved from a nomadic and peasant craft to a well-executed industry that used specialized design and manufacturing techniques on quality fibers such equally silk. The carpets of Ardabil, for example, were deputed to commemorate the Safavid dynasty and are now considered to be the all-time examples of classical Persian weaving, particularly for their use of graphical perspective.

Textiles became a large consign, and Persian weaving became i of the virtually popular imported goods of Europe. Islamic carpets were a luxury detail in Europe and there are several examples of European Renaissance paintings that document the presence of Islamic textiles in European homes during that time.

The Ardabil Carpet, Persia, 1540: The Ardabil Rug is the finest instance of 16th century Farsi carpet production.

Indonesian Batik

Islamic textile production, still, was not express to the carpet. Imperial factories were founded for the purpose of textile product that also included cloth and garments.

The development and refinement of Indonesian batik cloth was closely linked to Islam. The Islamic prohibition on sure images encouraged batik blueprint to become more abstract and intricate. Realistic depictions of animals and humans are rare on traditional batik, but serpents, boob-shaped humans, and the Garuda of pre-Islamic mythology are all commonplace.

Although its beingness in Indonesia pre-dates Islam, batik reached its high point in the royal Muslim courts, such as Mataram and Yogyakarta, whose Muslim rulers encouraged and patronized batik production. Today, batik has undergone a revival, and cloths are used for other purposes also wearing, such as wrapping the Quran.

Javanese court batik: The development and refinement of Indonesian batik cloth was closely linked to Islam.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/introduction-to-islamic-art/

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