What is Islamic Art?
Carl W. Ernst
Introduction to Islamic Civilization
What is Islamic Art?
1. Problems of Definition
2. The case of calligraphy
1. Problems of Definition
Where does the term “Islamic art” come
from?
Possible meanings based on use and
interpretation:
Beautiful objects used for sacred purposes
(Qur’ans, mosques) -> “sacred art”
Forms of design (“arabesque” floral
designs, geometry, calligraphy) that some
people consider symbolic of religious
themes
Islamic art and the museum
Major collections (Smithsonian/Sackler,
Metropolitan) include everything made
or used by Muslims as “Islamic art,” but
there is no equivalent category of
“Christian art”
Why would Europeans/Americans
consider religion as the basis for
everything among Muslims?
The challenge of the specific
meaning of geometry
Unusual example of
Sura 106 on the
divine unity,
inscribed over
geometric tile
(Granada, Tower of
the Captive): “He,
God is One; God is
eternal, neither born
nor begotten…”
Calligraphic meditations on the
Prophet
“We only sent
you
[Muhammad]
as a mercy
for creation”
(Qur'an
21:107)
A double hilya (Rasheed Butt,
Pakistan)
Religious subjects in
illustrated manuscripts
Created for elite
patrons by skilled
craftsmen
Used as diplomatic
gifts
Possible use in
religious
instruction?
Social meanings of Islamic
art?
Art created for Muslim patrons (often by
non-Muslim artisans): Dome of the Rock
Art created by Muslim artisans
(frequently for non-Muslim patrons:
Mudejar art in Spain
19th-century European Orientalist Art
depicting an imaginary Middle East
(based on 1001 Nights, etc.)
International modern art created by
Muslims
Orientalist
painting
harem fantasies
and romantic
depictions of
heroic Arab
horsemen
Comparable to
nostalgic art of
the American
West
Shirin Neshat,
1996 (text on
hand is from a
Persian poem)
International
modern art
created by
Muslims
“Islamicate” (M. Hodgson)
“Islamic”  related to central religious
texts and authorities
“Islamicate” [double adjective like
“Italianate”]  larger cultural framework
related to society where Islam is a major
factor; participated in by Muslims and
non-Muslims (includes literature, art,
etc.)
Iconoclasm in modern Islam
The Jannat al-Baqi`
cemetery in
Medina, before
1925 destruction
As it looks today
More
iconoclasm
Bamiyan,
Afghanistan:
Buddhas
destroyed by
Taliban
Calligraphy
The Qur’an and the word of God
An aesthetic of inner knowledge
Geometric reform of the Arabic script on
the basis of the dot produced by the
reed pen
Multiple scripts for secular and religious
purposes
The work of Sultan `Ali, master of
nasta`liq calligraphy (Safavid Iran)
"His alifs (‫ )ا‬were like the tall sapling-figures
that give peace to the soul, and the eye of his
sad (‫ )ص‬was like the eye of the youthful
sweethearts. His dal (‫ )د‬and lam (‫ )ل‬were like
the tresses of heart-ravishing beloveds, and
the circles of the nun (‫ )ن‬were like the
eyebrows of devastating beauties. Every one
of his dots was like the pupil of the dark-eyed,
and every one of his strokes was like the
water of life in the darkness of running ink.”
--Baba Shah Isfahani
Baba Shah on the highest stage
of calligraphy
"Authority" is that condition in which the scribe becomes enraptured
from its display when it is found in writing, and he has done with
egotism. When the scribe's pen possesses "authority," heedless
of the pleasures of the world, he turns his heart toward practice
(mashq), and the luminous sparks of the real beloved's beauty
appear in his vision.
(Verse:) Everywhere the sparks of the beloved's face are found.
And it is fitting, when such a scribe sets his hand to a white page
and writes a letter on it in his practice, that he reddens that
paper with bloody tears from the extremity of his love for that
letter. This characteristic, with the aid of the praiseworthy
attributes, becomes the face (`ariz) of the human soul (nafs),
and by the power of the pen its form is drawn on the paper
page. Not everyone can comprehend this quality in writing,
although he may be looking at it. Likewise, even if everyone saw
Layla, Majnun saw something that others did not see.
The word as the image of God
“The word of your
face is gazing at
the sacred
mosque”
God in the heart
“Do not disfigure the
face, for God
created man [Adam,
humanity] in His
form” (hadith)