Can someone please assist me or direct me to some site appertaining to ISLAMIC Art…
I know there are many sites and I have seen many …but my question is what is an ISLAMIC Art…, Art is just and art but why ISLAMIC art is so famous … Can anyone please throw some light here…
Thanx
'Islamic art' is a distant relative of 'communist chemistry' that was taught in Romania or 'christian biology' which says that evolution did not happen.
Relation between Malasian art and Sudanese art may be as distant as Chinese and native american arts.
Islamic Art is usually referred to calligraphy and the specific building structures built by Arabs such as domes etc.
This art had a prominent effect on the art and architecture of the Sub-Continent when the Arab traders came here.
U can go to:
"indo-islamic art" is a particularly important form of art in history.
it includes painting, music, calligraphy, architecture etc.
zz,
leave the prejudice aside please. Taj mahal is a master-piece of indo-islamic art.
Well, thankyou all for your responses to Islamic Art...but, I do know about Calligraphy, Islamic Architectural buildings and all but, my question is "Why are these called Islamic Architecture" or "Islamic Art" ... An art is just an art but Why Particularly "Islamic Art".. any comments please...
Thanx :)
Cuzzzzzzz.......calligraphy is associated with the names of Allah and that's Islam right?
sorry. couldnt think of a better explanation.
its calles islamic art cuz uslims were da frst 1s 2 do it. dey invented it, so its named aftr dem!!!!!!
RIGHT?
right offdachain.
muslims were not the "first ones" to do it, they were the "only ones". and that is exactly why it was called the islamic art.
Islamic Art and Architecture, the art and architecture of those areas- the Middle East, North Africa, northern India, and Spain- that fell under Islamic influence beginning in the 7th century AD. See also Islam.
Origins and Characteristics
The two dominant features of Islamic art and architecture, calligraphic ornamentation and the form of the mosque, are intimately related to the Islamic faith. The centrality of the Koran, the sacred text of Islam, in Islamic culture led to the use of writing, generally Koranic passages in Arabic, and to the development of calligraphy in all branches of Islamic art. In architecture, almost all mosques repeat the plan of the house of the prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, and are composed essentially of an enclosed courtyard, a building at one end for prayer, and arcades on the sides.
Historical Sequence
There were three eras in the development of Islamic art from the 7th century to the 18th century. The formative period was roughly coexistent with the early leaders of Islam, the Umayyad caliphs (661-750). The middle period spanned the time of the Abbasid caliphs (750-1258), who ruled Islam from Baghdâd, in what is now Iraq. The late period lasted from the Mongol conquest, around 1258, to the 18th century.
Architecture
Islamic architecture has influenced many structures. It can be found in mosques, places of community gathering and prayer; madresahs, religious schools; palaces; caravansaries, inns at which caravans rest at night; planned cities; and mausoleums.
Muslims call the direction in which they pray, facing toward Mecca, the qibla. Qibla determines the orientation of all mosques and is marked within each mosque by a decorative mihrab, or niche. The minaret, perhaps derived from Syrian architecture, is a tower at the corner of the mosque courtyard from which the call to prayer is customarily sounded.
Domes on Islamic architecture developed both from the Sassanids, pre-Islamic rulers of Persia, as well as from early Christian architectural sources. The earliest surviving mosque, the Dome of the Rock (late 7th century) in Jerusalem, was derived from Roman architecture. In the 10th century, domes on squinches (small arches that span the corners of the square) were introduced into Islamic building. Under the Ottomans, rulers of Turkey from 1299 to 1922, mosques were built reflecting the Byzantine heritage of Turkey, some with a colossal dome ringed by smaller ones or by half domes.
In the Abbasid mosques of Iraq, an eyvan, an open, vaulted, two-story passageway or hall, was introduced into the arcades surrounding the mosque courtyard. Although the horseshoe arch is more typically Islamic, the pointed arch was also built. The mimbar, or pulpit, and the maqqsura, a screen or enclosure placed around the mihrab to protect the leaders of the community during services, were other characteristic mosque details. Under the Abbasids, in the middle period, the madresah was introduced in eastern Iran and subsequently used for a new type of mosque design. The madresah and madresah-mosque have eyvans on four sides, connected by two-story arcades. In the 11th century the muqarna motif was developed. It consisted of a honeycomb of niches with small projections set into a vaulted roof or dome.
During Umayyad and early Abbasid times, desert palaces sometimes featured mosaics, wall paintings, and plaster relief sculptures of courtiers, animals, and even the caliph himself. (These were made prior to Islamic proscriptions against figural art.) Under the Abbasids, the construction of a city, Samarra, was begun near Baghdâd. It included an enormous walled building, gardens, offices, a mosque, baths, and living quarters. Fine decorative work included carved plaster in overall geometric patterns based on Turkish motifs. Other Islamic city-building project designs included a city in a series of concentric rings, bridges, polo grounds, and palaces built with wooden kiosks and art galleries. The Seljuk Turks, rulers of Iran from the mid-11th century to 1157, introduced the caravansary, a rest house with an aisled hall and an animal courtyard, built for travelers along caravan routes.
Despite Islamic strictures against elaborate tombs, mausoleums served as symbols of the power of departed leaders and became important Islamic structures. Examples include a 15th-century Egyptian necropolis of domed tombs and a Mongol tomb with a dome of double construction on an octagonal base. Plaster, patterned brickwork, tile, wood carving and inlay, stone relief and inlay, mosque lamps, and woven prayer carpets were used as decorative media within and on Islamic buildings.
Decorative Art
Islamic rules on art were collected in the Hadith, a 9th century text. It included condemnations of making images of prophets and saints, of adoring these images or tombs, of creating representational images, and of using luxurious or precious materials in art and architecture.
A period of ceramic innovation developed when Abbasid potters, imitating colorful green-and-yellow Chinese Tang wares, invented the tin glaze. From the 8th century through the 18th century, potters throughout the Islamic world variously made vessels in imitation of and expanding upon Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, including porcelain-like pots with applied decorations in high relief; luster-painted pottery; a special min'ai, or seven-color, enameled and illustrated pottery; underglaze-painted pottery; and colorful Turkish floral-patterned pots.
Muslim artists also worked in glass, notably producing Fatimid-cut glass, luster-painted glass, stamp-decorated glass, carved rock-crystal vessels, and enameled glass, particularly goblets and lamps. Exceptional woodwork, including openwork figural panels and furniture, was done in Fatimid palaces and later in Arab Sicily, as were carved ivory boxes and carved elephant tusks. Because of the stricture against precious metals, bronze was another favored material. Bronze objects included animal-shaped containers, as well as candlesticks and plates.
Other important decorative art media included Arabic script, leather bookbindings, and Islamic painting, especially book illustration. The earliest examples of Islamic painting survive in miniatures illustrating manuscripts. See Illuminated Manuscripts.
In medieval times textiles made in workshops called tiraz were highly valued. Over time, the word came to be used for the textiles themselves. Throughout the Islamic world, tiraz have included both linen and silk works. Islamic textiles eventually made their way to Europe, influencing weavers and embroiderers there. The earliest surviving Islamic knotted carpets are from 14th-century Turkey and are multicolored with an overall natural-form pattern and an inscriptional band border. Many parts of the Islamic world have been renowned for carpet weaving ever since.
Illuminated Manuscripts, hand-drawn scrolls and books enhanced with decorations and paintings. Manuscript illumination is the use of embellishment and illustration to enhance the pages of a medieval manuscript. Illuminations are also called miniatures.
The Aga Khan Foundation has an endowment at MIT for Islamic Architecture - they hand out awards every year ......