ISLAMIC PAINTING

In: Symposia Iranica, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, 11–12 April 2017, Cambridge. 2017.
The pictorial representation of architectural structures fundamentally shaped the aesthetics of a great many Persianate and Ottoman book illustrations. Facilitated by a cultural, literal and architectural connectivity, acquisitions of Persianate manuscripts and the mobility of Persian painters into the Ottoman court workshop, the formative period of Ottoman book painting was marked by an inspiration from the Persianate idiom and style. This paper will demonstrate, using selected examples, how the compositional layout of the buildings and settings portrayed, their architectural form and elements, the decorative repertoire in the revetment of the façades and dados, and the visual means of their pictorial representation, evidence continuity in a considerable number of early Ottoman book illustrations. An 'autonomous' Ottoman approach developed in the second half of the 16th century and some of these Persianate models vanished. However, many were emulated and appropriated, eventually undergoing gradual alterations over the course of time, but remaining as a long-lasting vestige of the Persianate actuality in Ottoman book painting.

The pictorial representation of architectural structures and elements shaped essentially the form and the aesthetics of Ottoman book painting and played a key role in both its early development (1490's-1550's) and in the so called “classical” style achieved during its main florescence (1550's-1600's). The paper addresses the forms and manners of the appropriation of Persianate, Byzantine and European – both pictorial and real architectural – models within the Ottoman visual representation of architecture. It considers the mutual interaction of these heterogeneous foreign idioms, while exploring the advance towards an autonomous Ottoman conception of architectural representation. Using the unique and understudied case of the pictorial representation of architecture, the paper illustrates the intricate historical reality of the trans-cultural and cross-field artistic exchange within which Ottoman book painting evolved.

چکیده
بقعه هفت¬تنان، از بنا¬های کریم¬خانی در شیراز، بنایی تاریخی است که در شمال آرامگاه حافظ در دامنه کوه تخت¬ضرابی (کوه چهل¬مقام) قرار گرفته است. علت نامگذاری این بقعه و باغ اطراف آن به هفت¬تنان، وجود هفت قبر در باغ است که از زمان کریم¬خان بر روی هر کدام، سنگ بزرگ بدون کتیبه¬ای نصب شده است. این هفت قبر را به هفت عارفی نسبت می‌دهند که در جوار آرامگاه حافظ در این شهر می¬زیسته¬اند و در همان مکان نیز درگذشته¬اند.
بقعه یا تکیه واقع در این باغ دارای دو ستون یکپارچه سنگی است که تنها بر روی یکی از این دو ستون آثاری از رنگ و نقاشی به¬جای مانده است. در طاقچه¬های بالایی این ساختمان دو طبقه، که رو به حیاط هست، پنج مجلس رنگ و روغن بر روی گچ کار شده است که موضوع تحقیقی در این مقاله است.
این مقاله پس از شرح مباحثی در خصوص نقاشی زندیه، به بررسی ویژگی¬های زیبایی¬شناختی نقاشی¬های مزبور و رابطه آن-ها با مباحث عرفانی مطرح شده در آن دوره می¬پردازد. بر پایه تحقیقات توصیفی تحلیلی به عمل آمده در این پژوهش، ویژگی¬های زیبایی¬شناختی پنج مجلس رنگ و روغن بر روی گچ کار شده و در بقعه  هفت¬تنان شیراز به شیوه التقاطی ویژه نقاشی عصر زندیه تا حدودی در خدمت مبانی عرفانی رایج در دوره زندیه، تعریف و سازمان¬دهی شده¬اند.
اهداف
1- مطالعه نقاشی¬های دیواری این بقعه از منظر زیبایی¬شناسی؛
2- بررسی حضور پیوند میان زیبایی¬شناسی این مجالس با باور¬های عرفانی و دینی مطرح در دوره زندیه.
سؤالات
1. ویژگی¬های زیبایی¬شناختی پنج مجلس نقاشی موجود در بقعه هفت¬تنان چیست؟
2. آیا ارتباطی بین مشخصات زیبایی¬شناختی این نقاشی¬ها و مبانی عرفانی رایج در دوره زندیه وجود داشته است؟
کلید واژگان
بقعه هفت¬تنان، زندیه، شیراز، تصوف.

In the history of the astronomy, Islamic astronomy or Arab astronomy refers to the astronomical contributions made in the Islamic world, especially in the Golden Islamic Era, ages 8-15, often written in Arabic. Most of these contributions occurred in the Middle East, Central Asia, Andalusia, North Africa and sometimes in the Far East and India. Like other Islamic sciences, astronomy was created by assimilating foreign materials and integrating the disparate elements of those materials to find a science that suited the characteristics of Islam. These foreign materials were in the works of the Sassanians, Hellenists and Indians, who were translated and grouped together. In contrast, Islamic astronomy had a clear influence on the Byzantines, Indians, Europeans and Chinese. Where Islamic art played an important role in the advancement of astronomy through the production of manuscripts, which were always provided with illustrations and illustrations and by the Muslim artists work and decoration of applied products that rely on astronomical knowledge. This research deals with the study of the pictorial scenes drawn by the artist on the manuscripts and the translation of the images of stars and planets in astronomy and its description and analysis of the artistic and design aspects of the manuscripts included human and animal drawings and superstitious objects as well as geometric and vegetal motifs. Things looked at the sky and its stars and observed the close relationship between earth and heaven and began to translate it through those Painting. The aim of this research is to clarify the characteristics that characterize these drawings as they were drawn on an astronomical document, where the artist took into consideration the original purpose of drawing, which is the monitoring of the heavenly bodies and their components, thus releasing the artist's hand to a great extent in showing his abilities as shown in those Painting. The researcher's interest in studying the current research and its use in the analysis and clarification of the artistic features of the Painting of stars and the philosophical dimension of the role of astronomy in Islamic Painting, which is the problem of the current research: Research Problem: Is focused on trying to take advantage of the philosophical dimension of the role of astronomy in the Islamic Painting of stars and symbols and their artistic features to enrich the design field.

One of the difficulties of topics related to Islamic architecture, especially lack of historical documents, architectural maps, and architecture theoretical dissertations. Although many Iranian paintings from this period remain, but little attention to them as historical documents has been and where the integrated, method and system are not suitable. The purpose of this research is to provide a method to use Iranian paintings that are illustrated the Iranian architectural monuments for understanding features of architectural space. Studied paintings are in the Iranian cultural range and between years 617-1000 AH/1220-1591 AD. Methodology of this research is discursive method. This Research first plans discursive framework based on three aspects: cognitive, aesthetic and historical aspect, then analyzes methods of understanding painting and architecture. Capabilities and shortcomings of each method are determined and finally a method is offered to understand the architectural spaces by Iranian paintings. That is based on four stages. The four stages are: 1) formal search; 2) typological and semiotic search; 3) symbological and phenomenological search 4) intuition thinking (wisdom). Refer to the first phase of the three layers of semantic postponed to the fourth stage. In the fourth step, there comes a semantic network. This meaning may confirm each other (convergence), denial (divergence) or they are impossible to time. In the last stage an intuitive semantic network is achieved. This method subsidiary include: historical documents method; monographic method; evolutionary method; conceptual approach; thematic approach; typological method. This research showed that by this method can understand from paintings some functional, formal structure, social - cultural, symbolic and Spiritual meaning of Iranian architectural space. Also, in some cases historical typology of spaces can be achieved approximation.

هدف البحث إلى استكشاف الدوافع لاستلهام أعمال الواسطي كمداخل تعبير في الفنون البصرية الحديثة و المعاصرة  كذلك هدف إلى رصد أهم التجارب الفنية العربية الحديثة و المعاصرة التي وظفت الأثر الفني للواسطي. ولتحقيق هذه الأهداف اتبع البحث المنهج الوصفي من خلال استعراض القيم الفنية لأعمال الواسطي التي أثرت على الفنون الحديثة والمعاصرة إلى جانب الوقوف على تجليات فن الواسطي في المشهد الفني العربي الحديث ، كما تم  تحليل عينة عشوائية من أعمال الفنانين العرب الحداثيين والمعاصرين للوصول لمداخل استلهام فن الواسطي لديهم، وللبحث أهميته في تأصيل القيم الفنية والفكرية لفن التصوير العربي الإسلامي، تعزيز دور الفن العربي الإسلامي في الفنون المعاصرة بوصفه لغة حوار في السياق الثقافي، كذلك تسليط الضوء على الفنانين ودورهم في الحفاظ على الموروث الفني العربي والإسلامي، كما  تحدد البحث بدراسة الأعمال الفنية العربية الحديثة والمعاصرة ذات الصلة بفن الواسطي من خلال عينة عشوائية من الفنانين العرب الذين تأثروا بالواسطي في انتاج  الفني من عام 1940م وحتى عام 2018م. توصل البحث إلى عدد من النتائج والتوصيات التي تفيد الباحثين والدراسين في مجال الفنون البصرية العربية.

This research investigate the motives behind inspiration from Al-wasti artworks as an expression of modern and contemporary visual artworks. I also reviews the most important modern and contemporary Arab artwork endeavors that have drawn from Al-wasti heritage. The descriptive methodology is employed in discussing the artistic value of Al-wasti works that have influenced the modern and contemporary artworks and in reviewing the manifestations of Al-wasti artworks in the modern Arab art landscape. A random sample from the works of Arab artists influenced by Al-wasti during the period 1940-2018 was selected and analyzed. This research, establishes the originality brilliance, and intellectual value of the Arab Islamic portrayal arts: It also enhances the role of Islamic Arabic art as the language of dialogue in the cultural context, and highlights the artists' (artists) role in maintaining the Islamic and Arabic artistic heritage. Several findings and valuable recommendations were obtained.

Abstracts  in English and German are also avaiable.

Göğe/semaya/Cennete yükselmeye olan ilgi, insanın izleri takip
edilebilen en eski mitlerine/inançlarına kadar gitmektedir. Malum olduğu
üzere, insanlar mit üretebildiği ölçüde toplumsallaşmıştır. Neandertal
kuzenlerimizin yaptığı 65.000 yıllık mağara resminde görüleceği üzere,
göğe yükselme imgesi ve/veya hayali her türüyle insanın mit üretme süreçlerinin en önemli ögelerinden biri olmuştur.
Miraç resimlerinin ikonolojik okuması bizi adeta insanlık tarihinde seyahate çıkarmaktadır. Mesela ilk Miraç resminde bulunan çift başlı Burak imgesi, bazı yönleri itibariyle Eski Mısır Tanrısı Tutu imgesiyle bağlantılı olduğu varsayılabilecek Kimera, Kargamış sfenksi, Harpy- Siren, Umay Ana- Hüma kuşu, Şahmeran vs. gibi mitolojik varlıklara benzemektedir.

Müslüman toplumların tarihinde yer yer görülen tasvir yasağının İslam’ın temel metinlerinden mi, Müslüman halkların farklı kültürel özelliklerinden mi geldiği tartışma konusudur. Bu yasağı İslam ile birlikte ananlardan bir kısmının İslam’ın temel kaynaklarına erişim sorunları yüzünden eksik bilgilerle çıkarım yaptığı görülmektedir.

Bu konulardaki araştırmaların salt bir disiplin çerçevesinden değil de, interdisipliner çalışma perspektiflerine ve hezarfenane çalışabilecek araştırmacılara ihtiyaç duyduğunu düşünüyoruz. Bu düşüncelerle çalışmamızı, kamuoyunun dikkatine de sunmaktan mutluluk duymaktayız.

Eschatological imagery appeared in Persian and Turkish book arts from circa 1300 to 1900. In manuscript paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the signs of the hour were closely affiliated with the Prophet Muhammad and the miraculous events of his life, in particular his heavenly ascension. In the sixteenth century, illustrations of otherworldly terrains and events were further developed in pilgrimage guides and books on the conditions of resurrection. These illustrated manuscripts were marked by millenarian anticipation and sectarian debate. By the 1800s, new cosmologies began to provide readers and viewers with exoteric picto-diagrams for meditating upon the esoteric meanings of faith and imagining salvation. In these depictions of the afterlife, the Islamic eschaton is rendered as a set of otherworldly realities that transcends language and thus is best rendered by means of graphic images.

يهدف البحث إلى التعرف على قصة أوردها الشاعر الكبير نظامي الگنجوي( )            (ت 595هـ / 1199م) في منظومته مخزن الأسرار، والتي نظمها حوالى سنة 561هـ /1165-1166م ( )، وهى مجموعه من أشعار الحكم والمواعظ، وتقع في 2260 بيت من الشعر ( )، وهي المثنوية الأولى من حيث الترتيب الزمني، وتتميز بأنها "منظومة صوفية"، تحتوي على الكثير من الحكايات، والكثير من الثناء والحمد والذكر والمناجاة لله تعالى، يعقبها عشرون مقالة كل واحدة تتعلق بموضوع فقهي أو أخلاقى يتناوله الشاعر من الناحية النظرية والمعنوية، ثم يصوره بعد ذلك بحكاية من الحكايات( ).

Images of Islam’s holiest place, the Ka’ba and the city of Mecca, have been very popular throughout the centuries. These images have been put on different materials, such as stone, ceramics, paper, and cloth (Blair 2013: 160–168). The Hajj exhibition Longing for Mecca, the Pilgrim’s Journey held at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden exhibited many samples of representations of the holy city of Mecca and the Ka’ba.1 A key piece was a particularly important and special eighteenth-century painting from the Uppsala University collection in Sweden, of which no other comparable contemporary drawings exist (Mols
2013: 120–121).
The painting by an unknown artist appears to be a realistic and astonishingly exact drawing of Mecca and the Ka’ba in the years 1710–1712 (figure 1). It contains unique and very important information about the cultural topography of Mecca and its urban fabric at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The painting shows a topographical view of Mecca with the Great Mosque in the centre, the houses immediately surrounding it, the different neighbourhoods of the city, and the surrounding hills and mountains. The street patterns of Mecca
can easily be recognised, as can many buildings that are marked by a red brush to identify their names. In the middle of the large open court of the Great Mosque stands the Ka’ba, the holiest sanctuary of Islam.

The thirteenth century Kitab Na’t al-Hayawan or “Book of the Characteristics of Animals” is the earliest illustrated Arab and Persian manuscript on animals in existence. In this essay I will argue that rather than the illustrations contained within it being merely an attempt at naturalistic representation, they are in fact part of a sensitive synthesis of various artistic elements which are brought together to great effect, creating on the one hand, a whole which is greater than its parts, and on the other hand, an embryonic form that can be seen as a template for later manuscripts. Elements such as perspective, space and formal structure will be placed into a wider Islamic context which will reveal that the avoidance of naturalistic representation was, whether consciously or unconsciously, in keeping with a certain respect for the medium with which the artists were working.

In:  Bulletin of the National Gallery in Prague, Praha: Národní galerie v Praze, 2013, vol. XXII-XXIII, pp. 60-73, 133-143. ISSN 0862-8912.
The paper deals with a Persian lacquered panel depicting Solayman and Belqis, the Queen of Sheba from the collection of Islamic art in the National Gallery in Prague. It brings a detailed analysis of this work of art, focusing on its composition, style, iconography and technique with aim to present the compelling conclusions regarding its dating, origin and context. Meanwhile, an interesting formal parallel with some miniatures of Nezami's Khamsah of Shah Tahmasp is introduced. Additionally, a complete interpretation in terms of Islamic art aesthetics is elaborated.

Статията разглежда темата за изобразяването на пророка Мухаммад в миниатюристиката на мюсюлманските народи. Като се представят основните исторически съчинения, в които се споменава за съществуването на рисувани образи на ислямския Пратеник, анализът се фокусира върху някои аспекти на илюстрирането на запазени ръкописи от мюсюлмански художници, създавани под егидата на мюсюлмански владетели между ХIII и XVI в. и включващи определени моменти от живота на Мухаммад. Акцентира се и върху спецификите на визуалната художествена традиция в ислямското изкуство, изхождащи от отношението към изобразяването на одухотворени същества, което бива формулирано от ислямските богослови въз основа на Корана и пророческата Сунна и определя допустимостта и степента на реалистичност на изображенията. Основният извод от изследването е, че тъй като изобразителното изкуство в исляма не носи религиозно послание, арабският език и неговият свещен характер се приема за достатъчен и единствено достоен за духовното и физическо изразяване на чертите на Пророка. След ХVІ в. в суннитския свят пророкът Мухаммад не се изобразява със средствата на миниатюристиката, а посредством калиграми-словесни портрети, наречени хилийета.

This paper describes some mediaeval islamic wallpaintings from 13th and 14th centuries recovered in Ceuta. Firstly, we study the technical process, compositions and designs and later the historical context is analyzed, spotlighted the close relations between marinid and nasrid art and the role of Ceuta in the transference of artistic influences from al-Andalus to Magreb and vice versa.

The image of “the Other” can be traced back in the history of every culture and the oppositional binary of the self/ the other (ego-alter) have always been regarded as a part of cultural studies. Problems such as the relationship between cultures (one specific culture and “the other” one/s) or reason of governments’ denial of the other/s are among important questions of this field. In the present article, the cultural semiotics method has been chosen to investigate the way  “the Other” is represented in two paintings belonging to two illustrated versions of Shahnameh, both from Safavid period. In this article based on the equally binary of the self and the other with the human and demon at those picture, has been analysis how the rejection function of culture works in semiotics realm of image. Eventually, the results of this study indicate that in oppositional binary of "the self" and “the other”, the other or demon by who knew herself the culture, unlike reality would show the nature. This function is a mechanism for the rejecting other cultures and avoid mixing with them.