West & Central Asian Art Study Guide
Theme: “Divinity, infinity, and unity” – Much of the art in this chapter is Islamic, and Islamic art is often inspired by
and entirely comprised of Islamic religious messages and content (divine). Additionally, much Islamic artwork is created
not only to last forever, but uses calligraphic script which relays the word of God – which is infinite – to the umma
(Muslims). Lastly, Muslims believed there was unity in geometric multiplicity; thus, works of Islamic art are comprised
of multiple parts and many different patterns and forms that are visually unified to create an entire composition.
Images (*#* indicates sub-images that students are also responsible for knowing)
WEST ASIAN
Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Art & Architecture
#
*181*
Title
Petra, Jordan
Artist/Culture
Nabataean
Ptolemaic and
Roman
Date
400 BCE – 100
CE
Medium
Cut rock
Location
Petra, Jordan
Medium
Granite
masonry,
covered with
silk curtain and
calligraphy in
gold and silverwrapped thread
Stone masonry
and wooden
roof decorated
with glazed
ceramic tile,
mosaics, and gilt
aluminum and
bronze dome
Stone, brick,
wood, plaster,
and glazed
ceramic tile
Location
Mecca, Saudi
Arabia
Islamic Art & Architecture
#
*183*
Title
The Kaaba
Artist/Culture
Islamic
*185*
Dome of the Rock
Islamic, Umayyad
*186*
Great Mosque
(Masjid-e Jameh)
Islamic, Persian:
Seljuk, Il-Khanid,
Timurid, and
Safavid Dynasties
187
Folio from a Qur’an
Abbasid
188
Basin (Baptistère de St.
Louis)
Muhammad ibn alZain / Mamluk
Date
Pre-Islamic
monument;
rededicated by
Muhammad in
631-632 CE;
multiple
renovations
691-692 CE,
multiple
renovations
700 CE;
additions and
restorations in
the 14th, 18th,
and 20th c. CE
8th-9th c. CE
1320-1340 CE
Ink, color, and
gold on
parchment
Brass inlaid with
gold and silver
Jerusalem,
Palestine
Isfahan, Iran
CENTRAL ASIAN
Islamic Art & Architecture
#
189
190
191
Title
Bahram Gur Fights the
Karg, folio from the
Great Il-Khanid
Shahnama
The Court of
Gayumars, folio from
Shah Tahmasp’s
Shahnama
The Ardabil Carpet
Artist/Culture
Islamic; Persian, IlKhanid
Date
1330-1340 CE
Sultan Muhammad
/ Safavid
1522-1525 CE
Maqsud of Kashan
/ Safavid
1539-1540 CE
Medium
Ink and opaque
watercolor,
gold, and silver
on paper
Ink, opaque
watercolor, and
gold on paper
Location
Silk and wool
Buddhist Art & Architecture
#
*182*
Title
Buddha
Artist/Culture
Gandharan
Date
400-800 CE
(destroyed in
2001)
184
Jowo Rinpoche,
enshrined in Jokhang
Temple
Yarlung Dynasty
Believed to
have been
brought to
Tibet in 641 CE
Medium
Cut rock with
plaster and
polychrome
paint
Gilt metals with
semiprecious
stones, pearls,
and paint;
various
offerings
Location
Bamiyan,
Afghanistan
Jokhang Temple,
Lhasa, Tibet
West & Central Asian Terms:
• Aniconic: decoration with no human figures or animals
• Arabesque: a flowing, intricate, and symmetrical pattern deriving from floral motifs
• Calligraphy: decorative and beautiful handwriting
• Caravanserai: roadside inns and towns along trade routes; often sites of cultural diffusion and
exchange
• Gandharan: diverse culture that emerged in Afghanistan, influenced by Alexander the Great’s Greek
empire and Buddhism from the Silk Roads and Indian kingdoms
• Hajj: Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that is required according to the Five Pillars of Islam
• Iwan: In Islamic architecture, a vaulted room opening to a courtyard
• Kiswa: black cloth that covers the Kaaba
• Koran/Qur’an: the Islamic sacred text, dictated to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel
• Kufic: highly ornamental and geometric Islamic script
• Mihrab: a niche in a mosque on the qiblah wall; indicates the direction to Mecca
• Minaret: a tall, slender tower used to call people to prayer
• Minbar: short flight of steps used as a platform by a preacher in a mosque
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mosque: a Muslim house of worship
Muezzin: the person at a mosque who calls people to prayer on the minarets
Muqarnas: decoration inside a vault; 3D shapes that resemble intricate stalactites which are layered
over one another in a complex pattern
Ogival arch: Islamic pointed arch
Parchment: sheep or goat hide that has been soaked in lime, dried and scraped until it can be cut into
pages
Pishtaq: a rectangular frame around an arched opening, usually associated with an iwan
Qiblah: the direction toward Mecca which Muslims face in prayer, indicated by a wall
Sura: verse or section of the Koran
Tessellation: decoration using polygonal shapes with no gaps
Urna: red dot on the forehead of Buddhist figures
Ushnisha: top-knot on the top of Buddha’s head (references a humble crown)
Vairocana: the universal Buddha, a source of enlightenment
Potential (West & Central) FRQ Images:
1. Dome of the Rock
2. Ardabil Carpet
3. Bahram Gur Fights the Karg
4. Court of Gayumars
South and Southeast Asian Art Study Guide
Theme: “Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam”-- Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are the religions that have dramatically affected
the art forms that Indian artists produced. Each has had a different time and place for its artistic influence.
Images (*#* indicates sub-images that students are also responsible for knowing)
South Asia
#
*192*
Title
Great Stupa at
Sanchi
Artist/Culture
Maurya, late
Sunga Dynasty
Religion
Buddhism
Date
300 BCE –
100 CE
*200*
Lakshmana
Temple
Shiva as Lord of
Dance (Nataraja)
Jahangir
Preferring a Sufi
Shaikh to Kings
Taj Mahal
Chandella
Dynasty
Chola Dynasty
Hinduism
930-950 CE
Medium
Stone masonry,
sandstone on
dome
Sandstone
Hinduism
11th c. CE
Cast bronze
Bichitr / Mughal
Islam
1620 CE
Watercolor, gold,
and ink on paper
Masons, marble
workers,
mosaicists and
decorators
working under
the supervision of
Ustad Ahmad
Islam
1632 – 1653
CE
Stone masonry
and marble with
inlay of precious
and semiprecious
stones; gardens
202
208
*209*
Location
Madhya
Pradesh,
India
Khajuraho,
India
Tamil Nadu,
India
Agra, Uttar
Pradesh,
India
Lahori, architect
of the emperor /
Mughal
Southeast Asia
#
*198*
Title
Borobudur
Temple
Artist/Culture
Sailendra Dynasty
Religion
Buddhism
Date
750-842 CE
Medium
Volcanic-stone
masonry
*199*
Angkor, the
temple of Angkor
Wat, and the city
of Angkor Thom
• South Gate
• Churning of
the Ocean of
Milk
• Jayavarman
VII as Buddha
Angkor Dynasty
Hinduism
&
Buddhism
800-1400 CE
Stone masonry,
sandstone
Location
Central
Java,
Indonesia
Angkor
Thom,
Cambodia
S/SE Asian Terms:
• Ashlar masonry: carefully cut and grooved stones that support a building without the use of concrete
or other kinds of masonry
• Axis-mundi: axis that connects heaven and earth
• Buddha: founder of Buddhism; multiple forms; has achieved full enlightenment
• Bulbous: when describing a dome; fat or bulging at the bottom before tapering inwards slightly
• Cenotaph: an empty tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person
• Chahar bagh: “fourfold garden”; a garden often divided into quarters by divisions of water
• Chamfered corner: a flattened corner of two buildings, often at 45 degrees
• Chhatri: elevated, domed tower
• Corbelled arch: constructed by offsetting successive courses of stone (or brick) so that they project
towards the archway's center from each supporting side, until the courses meet at the apex of the
archway
• Embryo room: the central most room in an Hindu shrine; this room houses the deity’s statue and is
believed to the deity’s dwelling place; typically, very small
• Hasht Bihisht: refers to a specific type of floorplan common in Mughal architecture where the plan is
divided into 8 chambers surrounding a central room
• Iwan: In Islamic architecture, a vaulted room opening to a courtyard
• Jali: perforated and decorated screen, usually with calligraphic or geometric ornamentation
• Maithuna: depictions of couples explicitly engaged in sexual intercourse
• Mausoleum: a building that contains tombs
• Miniature: small paintings on paper, prized for their detail and precision
• Mughals: Islamic rulers in India, known for opulence and extravagance
• Nimbus: a circle or oval shape surrounding a religious figure, representing spiritual light or glory
• Panchayatana: Hindu temple where the main shrine is surrounded by four smaller shrines
• Pietra dura: term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create
images on a neutral colored stone
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Shiva: the Hindu god of destruction
Stupa: a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine
Tantric: referring to transcendence; often used to describe deeply meditative and intimate sexual
activity
Torana: a gateway near a stupa that has two upright posts and three horizontal lintels; they are usually
elaborately carved
Urna: red dot on the forehead of Buddhist figures
Ushnisha: top-knot on the top of Buddha’s head (references a humble crown)
Vishnu: the Hindu god of preservation
Wat: a Buddhist monastery or temple in Cambodia
Yakshi: female and male fertility figures in Buddhist and Hindu art
Potential (S/SE) FRQ Images:
1. Great Stupa at Sanchi
2. Angkor Wat
3. Lakshmana Temple
4. Borobudur Temple
5. Taj Mahal
0
