Art History Islamic Short Answer

Unifying themes in Islamic art

• Reverence for the word: Islamic Text from Qur’an

• Imagery outside of the human figure (if religious, not secular): used vegetal/floral imagery and patterns, along with geometric patterns

• Equality of genres: All forms of artwork given the same respect

Islamic architecture

can have columns, arches, domes, bright colorful patterns, alternating colors of voussoirs

Reverence for the word, imagery outside of the human figure, and equality of genres

What are the 3 unifying themes in Islamic art?

Wafts

Rent to a mosque, sometimes was art

Humor

What was found in secular art

No

Is Islamic art only religous?

Four-iwan mosque

Hypostyle mosque

Holds all men for the noon Friday prayer 

Minaret

Used to identify structure, housing for the person who chants

In unison

How was praying in a hypostyle mosque done?

Qibla wall

Wall of the mosque which faced Mecca

Mihrab

Nook/indent, holds the Qur’an under dome

3

How many sides of a hypostyle mosque had entry portals?

Open courtyard

Where in the mosque held prayer?

Iwan

Pointed arch opening

Qibla iwan

Largest iwan, facing Mecca

Lateral iwan

The normal iwans

hypostyle mosque

Central plan

Took inspiration from the Byzantine

The Dome of The Rock

What structure is this?

Believed to be where Mohammad would sacrifice his son, it is the earliest known Islamic structure that’s survived to this time

Why is the Dome of The Rock important?