Lecture 2: Faith and Power: An Introduction to Islamic Art

Islamic lore: context in relation to Judaism & Christianity (3)

• Youngest of 3 monotheistic religions

• Traditions similarly trace back to the Prophet Abraham

• BUT Islam sees itself as the ultimate confirmation of the primordial faith in the unity of God

Islamic lore: key dates (2)

• 622 CE: beginning of the Islamic calendar (AH 1)

  • Prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina

• 632 CE: Prophet Muhammad died, buried @ his house in Medina (2nd holy site in Islam)

Islamic lore: role of mankind (3)

• Merely an instrument/servant of Allah

• All equal

• Should never:

  (1) Assume the role of the Lord

  (2) Attempt to seize & fixate the divine in human artefacts

Islamic lore: Prophet Muhammad (4)

• Born 570 CE in Mecca

• Last in the chain of prophets

• Historically did exist

  • BUT NO photographic evidence as Muslims only believe in Allah as the sole idol

• Seen as a human transmitter of the Qur’an

  • Was revealed to him in segments throughout his life

  • Memorised & recited during his lifetime, then fixed in writing immediately after his death

  • 1st revelation in 610 CE from the archangel Gabriel:

    • ‘Read […] in the name of your Lord […] Read: and your Lord is Most Generous, Who taught knowledge by the pen, taught man what he did not know.’

      = explains significance of calligraphy & the written word

Islamic lore: core beliefs (3)

1. Allah is beyond the limited human capacities of imagination [transcendant]

• Nothing material should be directly associated w/ the idea of God

  • To preserve his purity

2. BUT Allah is omnipresent/inherent within his creation [immanent]

• Percievable by virtue of symbolism & analogy

3. Close interactions, yet clear distinctions between 2 levels of existence

• Human/temporal realm vs. Divine/timeless realm

• Both worlds are cut from the same cloth: while God is unique, His creation is too

  • BUT blurring the division = blasphemy

Islamic lore: key vocab

• Qur’an

• Sunna

• Khalifa/Caliphs

• Sultan

• Ka’ba

• Qur’an: the word of God

• Sunna: habits (of the Prophet)

• Khalifa/Caliphs: orthodox Islamic law; formed using (1) the Qur’an & (2) the Sunna

  • First 4 caliphs were ‘Rashidun’ (= rightly-guided caliphs): relatives/close companions of the Prophet Muhammad

• Sultan: powerful tribal & military leaders

• Ka’ba: literally ‘cube’; a stone building @ the centre of Islam’s most important mosque & holiest site (the Masjid al-Haram) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Misconceptions of Islamic Art (2)

1. ‘Visual tradition in service of the Islamic religion’

• NOT always

• Figurative Islamic art frequently engages w/ the secular dimension of the Islamic world (e.g. in illustrating history/myths)

2. Orientalist, non-local ways of categorising Islamic art

• Focus on geographical ‘centre’ of Islam (the Middle East), even though Islamic communities exist all over the world

  • E.g. S.E.A. has the highest concentration of practising Muslims

• Islamic art as monolithic, uniform, & one-dimensional

  • Rarely takes into consideration the various local influences specific to different geographical regions

  • Reflects the complexities of Islam as a religion

Entanglements of Faith & Power (2)

1. Cultural fusion as a result of geographic expansion

• After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam underwent intense expansion (e.g. Byzantine Empire, Sicilian Empire)

  • Empires w/ rich existing artistic & cultural traditions

  • Synthesis & repurposing of existing resources (syncretism)

  • E.g. Dome of the Rock (691 CE), the Taj Mahal (1653)

2. Inherent mechanisms of ruling

• Caliphs were BOTH spiritual & political leaders

  • E.g. rightful caliphs were ‘chosen’ by the Prophet Muhammad, or at the very least inextricably linked to him

  • E.g. the caliph did the sermon during Friday prayers (most important of weekly prayers for Muslims)

  • E.g. the City of Peace/Al-Mansur City (766 CE), the Qur’an of Sultan Baybars II (1306)

Stefano Bianca, ‘Basic principles of Islam and their social, spatial and artistic implications’ (2)

1. Architecture & urban form are a natural expression of prevailing spiritual values & beliefs

• ‘All spiritually-founded traditions aim at materialising their individual perception of universal truth’

  • Filtered through their own cultural conditions

  • This can be a result of:

    (A) Conscious planning to ‘mirror’ the universe in man-made material structures (e.g. monumental works of art)

    (B) A natural outcome as a result of traditions & daily practices which correspond to certain spiritual principles

2. Islam completely integrates religious practice in the daily life of the individual & society

• Provides a matrix of behavioural archetypes = generates correlated physical patterns = moulds a whole way of life

  = the religious & social universe of Islam is crucial to the analysis of Islamic architecture

Wendy Shaw, ‘What is Islamic Art? Between Religion and Perception’ (2)

1. The interpretation of Islamic art through Western European art-historical frameworks fails to bridge the gap of alterity.

• Our existing frameworks of religion, art, & history often veil Islamic culture rather than revealing it

• Problems:

  (1) Teleological assumption

  (2) Secular assumption (mid-18th century)

  (3) Universalisation of Western European Christian values through art

  (4) Dependence on periodisation & distinct civilisations

  (5) Role of the Western Art Museum (19th century)

2. Our cultural backgrounds shape the ways we perceive & interpret art.

• When art originates from an unfamiliar culture/time, we view it through the filter of what we already know

  • E.g. translating European pre-modern cultures using modern frameworks (the past)

  • E.g. translating other cultures using the Euronormative category of ‘Art’ (the other)

    • = the past & the other become blind spots of Art History

Wendy Shaw, ‘What is Islamic Art? Between Religion and Perception’: problems w/ Western Art-Historical frameworks (5)

1. Teleological assumption

• Objects as necessary symbols of linear progress

• Rather than focusing on how artists engage w/ contexts in the present tense

2. Secular assumption (mid-18th century)

• Separates religion from lived reality

• Obscures premises inherited from the hegemony of Western European Christianity

3. Universalisation of Western European Christian values through art

• Art History developed in Western Europe just as Europe became a global, hegemonic power

• Norms established under Western European Christianity have become naturalised (e.g. vocabulary of the image): reinscribing the Christian as ‘Western’

  • E.g. the repurposing of altarpieces as Art

4. Dependence on periodisation & distinct civilisations

5. Role of the Western Art Museum (19th century)

• Sensory experiences of art reduced to sight

• Rituals of respect (e.g. silence, circumambulation, meditations) perpetuate a sacrual aura in the episteme of knowledge > faith

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem (691 AD)

Historical context

• Built by the Umayyads (1st dynasty after the 1st 4 Rashiduns)

• On temple mound (a sacred place for Jews)

• Jerusalem was the original direction of prayer before Mecca (a sacred place for Muslims)

Description

• Circular dome within an octagon

• Centrally-planned (typical of Byzantine architecture)

• Decorative mosaic spelling out the Islamic passage ‘God is One’ (typical of Byzantine art)

  • Surround the stone in an ambulatory manner

  • Very specific declaration in taking over this extremely important site w/ this proclamation [faith & power]

• Adopts the shape of a martyrium

  • Same shape can be found across the Christian world as well (e.g. San Vitale)

  • Used to enshrine sacred relics

    • Holy Rock

      • Where Prophet Muhammad accomplished his heavenly Night Journey (mi’raj)

Interpretation

• Even though it may have been built as a demonstrative anchor of Muslim values in Muslim-conquered Jerusalem, external cultural influences are still visible

Status today

• Shared & contested by both Jews & Muslims [faith & power]

The City of Peace / Al-Mansur City (766 AD)

Historical context

• Built by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur

  • Official residence of the Abbasid court

• Original core of Baghdad (capital)

Description

• Contained within walls

• 4 gates

  • Each oriented towards 4 important geographical regions of the Islamic empire

• On the outer/inner rings lay the commercial & residential areas, and defensive outposts

• In the centre lay:

  (1) the caliphal palace

  • Centrality of political/spiritual authority

  • Able to survey everything at any given time

  • The exercise of power is administered, monitored, protected & articulated visually & symbolically

  (2) the mosque

  • The wall of the palace coincides w/ the wall of the mosque (joint building)

    = merging of spiritual & political authority, both exerted from the same position [faith & power]

  (3) the headquarters for guards

  (4) the famous library (‘House of Wisdom’)

• Large empty space surrounding these buildings in the centre: purpose is unknown

• Circular design

  • Directly took from traditional Persian Sasanian urban design

  • In an area that was dominated by the Sasanian dynasty before the advent of Islam

    = repurposing of existing knowledge

Interpretation

• Even though it may have been built to signal the advent of a new ruling power in Baghdad, external cultural influences are still visible

• Visual metaphor for the Islamic system of political & spiritual authority

  • Centrality of political/spiritual authority

  • Merging of spiritual & political authority

Status today

• Does not exist anymore

The Qur’an of Sultan Baybars II (1306 AD)

Historical context

• The making of Qur’ans was one area where expenditure & artistic effort were not spared

  • Speaks of financial capability, power, & will of patrons

• Was gifted to public institutions as a statement of presence/authority/legitimacy

  • Act of generosity/piety

  • ‘The sultan is able to provide for the spiritual needs of the people’ [faith & power] ⭐

Description

• Physically huge

• Entirely written in gold

• The Qur’an has ~6,300 verses

  • Immense expenditure in terms of material resources

Interpretation

• Acts of piety as demonstrations of power [faith & power] ⭐

  • Patronage as a signifier of legitimacy/authority

Status today

• In the British Library

  • Has been digitised for reading

The Baysunghur Shahnama (1430 AD)

Historical context

• Book of Kings

  • An illustrated manuscript of the Shahnama, the national epic of Greater Iran (Persia)

  • A 60,000 rhyming couplets poem

  • Recounts the story of the Persian Kings, from the very beginnings up to the Arab conquests around 650 (real history)

  • Text was collated from a number of different sources in 1010 by an Iranian poet

    • Was a great trigger for artistic creativity

• Commissioned by Timurid prince, Baysunghur Mirza

  • Was the younger son of the ruler of Iran; would not inherit the throne

  • Timurids were Mongols who came to rule (present-day) Iran

• Islamic rulers, other than supporting the production of Qur’ans, sometimes also chose to support the production of poetry & literature

  • Esp. in areas where there were strong local indigenous literary traditions

Description

• Self-insertions of Baysunghur

  • E.g. 2-page frontispiece shows a prince which is probably a portrait of Baysunghur

• Set new precedeents for Shahnamehs

  (1) Page size was unusually large

  (2) Some pages depict unusual scenes/new ideas not shown in earlier Shahnameh versions

  • BUT their iconography & style pull from tradition

  (3) Miniatures executed w/ bright colours & crisp lines that were revolutionary for the time

Interpretation

1. Presence of figuration in secular Islamic art (evidence of a visual tradition not always in service of the Islamic religion)

• Was allowed because this book existed in the secular sphere (a retelling of history & myth)

2. Set a new precedent for royal manuscript commissions

3. Artistic influence as a tool to strengthen political influence

• By reproducing the Shahnama, the Timurid dynasty signalled that they embraced Persian culture & traditions

• YET in still differentiating their version of the Shahnama from prior versions (innovation), signalled the advent of a new, superior ruling power ⭐

4. Art as a tool to demonstrate power & influence

• Of the new kingdom: this manuscript influenced the direction later royal commissions would take

• Of its patron specifically, Baysunghur Mirza:

  • Purposeful selection of specific scenes

  • E.g. frontispiece portrait of himself, spread over 2 pages

    • Self-insertion into the Shahnama (a widely-known artistic & historical tradition)

    • Affirms his importance & elevated status

    • Positions himself as a successor of a long line of respected predecessors ⭐

    • DESPITE that Baysunghur Mirza wasn't a successor to his father's throne

Status today

• In the museum of The Golestan Palace, in Tehran, Iran

The Taj Mahal (1653 AD)

Historical context

• Lies on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

  • Further East from the central Islamic lands

• Commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan

  • To house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and (eventually) his own

  • Mughals were the last descendants of the Mongols (Timurids)

Description

• Entire main structure is constructed of white marble

  • Only auxiliary buildings composed of red sandstone

  • Whereas most Mughal-era buildings tended to use:

    • Red stone for exteriors and functional architecture (such as military buildings and forts)

    • White marble for special inner spaces or for the tombs of holy men

  • May correspond with principles laid down in ancient Hindu texts

    • Red represented the color of the warrior class

    • White stood for purity and the priestly class

      = represents the purity of the deceased & of love

• Indo-Persian architectural fusion

  • Floorplan: Persian architecture

    • Centrally-planned

  • Quadripartite garden

    • Persian garden divided into 4 sections by walkways or water

    • Also symbolises 4 rivers in Islamic heaven/paradise

      • Symbolise the abundance of eternal life

  • Umbrella-shaped ornamental chhatris (smaller domes) atop the pavilions and minarets: local Indian architecture

    = syncretism ⭐

• Decorative calligraphy (Qur’an passages)

  • Speak of eternal life, Paradise, celebration of the deceased buried within

• Engraved w/ decorative floral designs & semi-precious stones

  • Symbolised the verdant flora of the Paradise in which the deceased would find herself after her death

  • Employed Florentine artisans in 16th century Renaissance Italy

    • Pietra dura technique (“hard stone” in Italian)

      • A technique wherein precious and semi-precious stones are cut, polished and inlaid—generally on hard stone, such as marble—to represent an image

Interpretation

• Proof of Islamic art evolving & acquiring local connotations

Status today

Exists & preserved