Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
CLICK HERE FOR ITALIAN VERSION
Islamic Art and Visual Culture
An Anthology of Sources
Edited by D. Fairchild Ruggles
Hoboken (NJ), Wiley-Blackwell, 2011
Text of the back cover:
"Islamic Art and Visual Culture is a collection of primary sources
in translation that serve as evidence for visual and cultural history. These
essential translations are taken from sources as diverse as the Qur’an, court
chronicles, letters, technical treatises on calligraphy and painting, imperial
memoirs, endowment deeds, legal judgments, foreign travel accounts, and city
management manuals. Clear and concise explanatory essays situate each text and
explain the circumstances in which it was written – the date, place, author,
and political conditions – and each object, building, and site is described.
The perfect tool for teachers and students of art and visual culture, this powerful
and varied collection provides a vivid window into Islamic visual culture and
society."
 |
| Rome, The main hall of the Mosque, 1995 (by Paolo Portoghesi) Source: Wikimedia Commons |
The strengths of this anthology
Having clearly
didactic purposes, this anthology is a very useful tool for those who want to come
closer to the Islamic art world. Without doubts, the authoress had a thankless
task. To give an account of testimonies which cover nearly one-thousand year
history and relate to a geographic area stretching from Spain to India in no
more than 200 pages, must have required an enormous synthesis effort, in
particular as she tried also to contextualize any written text into a reality which
is unknown to most. D. Fairchild Ruggles notes (p. 1) that handling a similar
review of sources is not usual even within the Islamic world, due to the well-known
language problem of the three key streams of Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Indeed,
this is the most valuable aspect of the anthology: to bring together all
extracts in English.
 |
| The Great Mosque of Kairouan (Tunisia) Source: Wikimedia Commons |
History of visual culture and art literature
Speaking of
her anthology, the editor points out that it is a collection of primary sources
testifying to the history of visual culture. From this point of view, I think
it is important to understand that Ms Ruggles does not talk about "sources
of the history of art" or "art literature" as we are used to
consider those terms in Europe (excluding the UK). The Anglo-Saxon world - it was
said many times in this blog - historically did not know (or, rather, did not internalise)
the tradition of studies resulting from Schlosser’s Kunstliteratur. The "primary" sources in the anthology,
therefore, are to be intended in a broad sense: "primary texts can include
inscriptions on glass, metalwork, and the wall of buildings [editor's note: and,
I might add, embroidered textiles], which are both written and visual works
that at the same time provide examples of historically situated texts” (p. 2). In
the specific case, this proves to be a happy choice, given the importance that
writing had in Islamic art experiences. Many sources, then, have a specific historical
significance, and can find equivalence in the European medieval "chronicles"; from a purely artistic
point of view, they may however be somewhat disappointing. It is true that the
introductory comments of the curator still allow us to appreciate the
historical importance of simple hints that might otherwise go unnoticed. An
example are the Epistles of the Brethren
of Purity (ante 909) testifying to the organization of arts on a
corporation basis (pp. 22-23).
 |
| Istanbul, Topkapi Palace, The Gate of Felicity Source: Wikimedia Commons |
The structure of the anthology
Having said
all that, the anthology is organized into five main areas [1]:
Foundations. Religious, political, juridical and administrative documents from early Islam and places in
transition
Here are included abstracts from the sacred texts of Islam (first and foremost the Qur'an)
which will then affect the artistic choices of the following centuries.
Behavior, gifts, treasuries and collections.
The
documents collected in this section are from passages illustrating the wealth
of many collections of high officials or other texts that have to the contrary
a rather prescriptive nature. The latter are called "mirrors of the principles", a literary genre that had great
success and that just offered precepts on the behaviour that princes had to
keep when governing.
Art
The chapter
dedicated to arts in strict sense is, of course, the most interesting from our
point of view. It is divided into several sub-sections: a) workshops, guilds
and crafts in general; b) calligraphy and scribes; c) painting; d) textiles; e)
ceramic, glass, ivory and other materials; f) geometry, aesthetics. These issues
will be discussed later.
Space: Architecture and urban planning
Here too,
we see a division into sub-categories: a) architectural techniques; b) architectural
motives and elements; c) urban planning and territory. Of particular interest are
the statements on architectural techniques. Ibn Khaldun (mid-fourteenth
century), for example, describes the construction techniques used for buildings
constructed in mudbrick and for ornamental plasterwork. The results of those techniques
are buildings like the Alhambra in Granada. Dates back to mid-1500, instead, the
work of the historian Abu'l-Fazl Allami, who lived under the Mughal Empire;
there one can read an extraordinarily detailed list of the necessary tools to
build a building (and their market prices). In the sub-section on architectural
motifs is basically included the description of facilities dedicated to
religious worship within the mosques, as may be the pulpits, the separate areas
devoted to prayer of the illustrious men (Maqsura), the government buildings,
usually leaning against the mosque (Dar al-imara), the schools and colleges
(Madrasa)
 |
| Alhambra, Granada, Patio of the Lions Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Places
The
extracts containing descriptions of places or buildings (normally mosques) are
really numerous. In almost all cases, these are narrative texts, just displaying
the reality of a given structure in a specific historical moment. In addition
to those of historians, particular importance have the writings of geographers
and travellers, whether they are Muslims (and here one must remember the
equivalent of our Marco Polo, i.e. Ibn Battuta (about 1304-1370), who travelled
from China and Southern Russia to East Africa) or strangers sent to pursue
diplomatic missions or guided by a spirit of adventure. By way of curiosity, I
am also quoting a page drafted by a lady, i.e. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (a famous
figure of a traveller, writer and poet well-known throughout Europe, who lived
for a long time even in Italy), who gave an account of her visit to a Turkish
harem in 1718 (her husband was then the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire). More
generally, however, the range of witnessed towns is very wide and goes from the
Arabian Peninsula (and of course from Mecca) to today disgraced places as a theatre
of war (Syria and Iraq). They include towns from Spain and Portugal to the
Maghreb, Africa (going so far as to Timbuktu) and Sicily; from Egypt to Turkey
and the Ottoman Empire, from Iran and Central Asia to India.
 |
| Taj Mahal, Agra, India Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Aniconism and painting
We should
certainly not ignore that any assessment of Islamic art has to take into
account the aniconic choice of Islam. To be honest, it seems that the curator
takes for granted many things about it and, on this issue, fails to fulfil the
educational goals she set with her anthology. Let's try to summarize. Islam is
an aniconic religion, where the depiction of God is
prohibited. This is different from iconoclasm: iconoclasm is the destruction of
images and works of art, and, in some way, is a consequence of aniconic
fanaticism. Already typical of Jewish world (remember the Biblical story of
adoration of the golden calf), the Islamic choice of aniconism (and, in the
most radical forms, of iconoclasm) is of great impact even for the Christian
world. There is no doubt that the Christian communities who lived in Syria decisively
contributed to the iconoclastic controversy that run through the Byzantine
world for centuries (a dispute first of all of a religious nature, later on
contaminated by political interests) [2]. Having said that, there is no
prohibition in the Qur'an of an image representation. This prohibition appears
instead in the Hadith (the
Traditions), technically the reports which his disciples gave of the Prophet's
behaviour and his actions, first transmitted orally and then transcribed. Here
is said that the representations of God are forbidden (as form
of idolatry); the statement on the representation of man and nature is much
more nuanced. An intransigent Islamic interpretation of aniconism wants it to
be forbidden because any human representation attempts to compete with the
divine creation; and also it pushes the argument to prohibit any form of
natural and mimetic representation, for the same reasons. Hence the Islamic
tradition as pure decoration and representation of abstract motifs.
However positions
were - it should be said, in fact - much more nuanced, subject to the ban to
the representation of God. Also this anthology bears witness to it. An
invitation to the natural representation appears for example in the Treatise on Painting (Qanun al-Suvar) by
Sadiqi Beg Afshar, who lived in Persia in the second half of 1500. The Treaty
has a clear educational intent: "You may well incline toward figure
painting. If this be your intent, then Mother Nature alone (…) must serve as
your guide" (p. 51). It is no coincidence, however, that immediately after
the artist distinguishes between "human painting" and "animal
painting" as diverse genres, and evidently to be taught (and learned)
following a different curriculum. Then, when one switches to read pages written
by the historian Abu'l-Fazl 'Allami and dedicated to the passion of emperor Mughal
Akbar for the human figure (we are at the turn of 1500 and 1600), we can think
somehow the Museum of portraits of Paolo Giovio:
"Drawing
the likeness of anything is called taşwīr.
His Majesty, from his earliest youth, has shown a great predilection for this
art, and gives it every encouragement(…). Hence the art flourishes, and many
painters have obtained great reputation (…). Most excellent painters are now to
be found, and masterpieces, worthy of Bihzad [3], may be placed at the side of
the wonderful works of the European painters who have attained world-wide fame.
The minuteness in detail, the general finish, the boldness of execution, etc.,
now observed in pictures, are incomparable; even inanimate objects look as if
they had life. More than a hundred painters have become famous masters of the
art, whilst the number of those who approach perfection, or of those who are
middling, is very large. This is especially true of the Hindus; their pictures
surpass our conception of things (…). One
day, at a private party of friends, His Majesty (…) remarked: “There are many
that hate painting; but such men I dislike. It appears to me as if a painter
had quite peculiar means of recognizing God” (…) His Majesty himself sat for
his likeness, and also ordered to have the likenesses taken of all the grandees
of the realm. An immense album was thus formed; those that have passed away,
have received a new life, and those who are still alive, have immortality
promised them" (pages 53-54).
 |
| Kamal-ud-din Bihzad, Construction of the Fort of Kharnaq, about 1495, London, British Museum Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Yet the
presence in the Islamic world of a form of distrust vis-à-vis painting, often bordering
iconoclasm, is evidenced for example in the story of the Ottoman traveller Evliya
Çelibi, who narrates (in a collection that has the nature of comedy) of the
cancellation of the faces in some ancient manuscripts (pp. 55-57); or again, in
a much more ancient account (we are at the beginning of 900) with which the
historian Narshakhi describes the Bukhara mosque (now in Uzbekistan), resulting
from the transformation, at the beginning of 700, of an earlier temple, on
whose doors were displayed carved image of deities whose heads were immediately deleted (pp. 149-150).
 |
| Reza Abbasi, Two lovers, about 1630, New York, Metropolitan Museum Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Calligraphy
If the role
of painting in the Islamic world is objectively difficult, however, it is without
question that calligraphy enjoyed unlimited prestige. The reasons are of
religious order. The tradition (confirmed for example in a writing entitled Gulistan by Qadi Ahmad of late 1500 (p.
49)) states that the first object created by God was the qalam (the calamus, or pen).
The scribe, in the Islamic social scale, is at a very high level; besides
mastering dozens of different handwritings, he must have knowledge of
mathematics, civil engineering, astronomical calculation and geometry. In 1514
Mawlana Sultan-'Ali, a native of Mashhad (today Iran) wrote a beautiful popular
poem (pp. 40-46), which in part serves as instruction manual and partly has
autobiographical nature. The choice of a composition in verse appears dictated
by the greater ease with which the future calligraphers could memorize the
author's requirements:
"The
aim of Murtada-‘Ali [4] in writing
Was not merely characters and dots
But fundamentals, purity, virtue;
And he
pointed to this by the beauty of his writing."
It is
clear, in short, that calligraphy assumes a religious dimension; and therefore
it is not surprising that there is a truly abundance of prescriptions having to
do with anything related to the world of writing. One example is the Treaty on paper, colour and ink by Simi
Nishapuri (1433), of which two excerpts are presented in this anthology [5]. "The
two excerpts below treat the tinting and application of gold and other colors
to paper. The fashion of writing on colored paper [editor's note: this fashion
was condemned by Mawlana Sultan-'Ali in the poem quoted above] derives from the
Chinese and reached Islam through Chinese-Iranian trade exchanges in the
thirteenth century. The Jawhar-i Simi
[editor's note: it is the title of the Treaty] is the oldest known manuscript
to give explicit instructions for such tinting. The second excerpt refers to
writing with metals and colored pigments" (p. 38). Obviously, these pages
have a special meaning for all those who are involved in art techniques.
 |
| Stork-shaped figurative calligraphy, 1604-1605, Topkapi Palace Museum Source: Wikimedia Commons |
More
generally, the importance of the sign becomes a characteristic feature of large
part of Islamic art and overflows from paper writing to gain a monumental role
with the inclusion of large inscriptions on the main religious and urban civil
buildings. On the other hand, one must at least mention the inclusion of inscriptions
in the centuries-old textile tradition of carpets: "The word tiraz
literally means inscription, and the term ţirāz often refers to a class of
Islamic textiles made with an epigraphic embroidered border"(p. 57).
In conclusion…
At p. 105
the curator presents a brief description of the Citadel of Aleppo in 1185. The
text is drawn from an English extract by Guy Le Strange, 'Palestine under the
Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from AD 650 to 1500', London,
1890. In these days of war, it seems necessary to propose it to the attention
of the reader:
 |
| Aleppo, Aerial view 2016 Source: La Stampa.it |
"Halab [Aleppo] lyes a night’s journey from Al-Bab and Buza'ah. Its a place of saintly remains, with a celebrated and impregnable castle. It was the city of the Hamdanid Princes, whose dinasty is now passed-away. Sayf al-Dawla [n.d.r. Hamdanid Prince, ruling from 944 to 967 a.C.] made it as a bride for beauty of appearance. The castle stands on the hill, whither, in ancient times, Abraham was wont to retire at night with his flocks there to milk them (halaba) – giving away of the milk in alms. Hence, as it said, is the name of Halab. There is a Mashhad (or oratory), much visited by the people. A copious spring of water rises in the castle, and they have made two cisterns here to store the water. Round these tanks are double walls. On the city-side of the castle is a deep ditch, into which the surplus water runs. The castle has high walls and towers, and the Sultan’s habitation is here. In the town are fine and wide markets, covered in by wooden roofs. Shady streets, with rows of shops, lead up to each of the gates of the Jami’ Mosque. Very fine is this mosque, and beautifully paved in its court. [...] In the court of the mosque are two wells. The wood-work of Halab is of excellent renown. The Miharb (or prayer-niche) of the mosque is very beautiful, with wood-work up to the roof, ornamentally carved, and inlaid with rare woods, and ivory, and ebony. The Mimbar (or pulpit) is also most exquisite to behold. On the western side of the mosque is the Madrasa (or college) of the Hanafites, with a fine garden. In the city are four or five other Madrasas like to this one, also a Maristan (or hospital). Suburbs lie all round the city, with numberless Khans and gardens. A small river runs out of the city towards the south (called the Kuwaik)".
NOTES
[2] See in this blog the review of Emanuela Fogliadini, The Invention of the Sacred Image. The Ecclesial Legitimation of the Icon at the Second Council of Nicaea, Milan, Jaca Book, 2015.
[3] Kamal
Al-Din Bihzad was a famous painter who lived in the early 1500s.
[4]
Legitimate successor of Muhammad according to the Shiites.
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento