History of Art I
Islamic Art and Architecture

Byzantine: Hagia Sophia

Icons (Image)
Christ (oldest known icon, sixth century)
Sacred image
Followed a fixed pattern
(so craftsmanship emphasized over creativity)
Encaustic: durability

Madonna Enthroned, c. 1200 AD, National Gallery of Art, DC

Islamic Tradition
Islam is the religion that centers around the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, c. 570-
632 AD
Begins in Arabia but spreads all the way from
Spain to India and Indonesia.
In art we will see more emphasis in the
“decorative arts” rather than figural art.

Kaaba

• A pre-Islamic site
• Muhammad taught that
Abraham and Ishmael built it
• Contains a black stone
(a meteorite) that the
Angel Gabriel gave to
Abraham
• Muslims walk around the kaaba seven times

The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 690
AD

Probably built by Byzantine architects from
Constantinople. This will be typical of Islamic art and architecture in general: freely borrowing and adapting local traditions.
What type of plan is this?
Part of an effort to make Jerusalem, not Mecca the prime pilgrimage site

Rock: from which Muhammad ascended to God

Plan

Nine Square Grid

Mosaic

The Mosque
• A Prayer Hall: “Place of Prostration”

• A Qibla Wall
• A Mihrab
• Minarets

Mosque at Kairouan, Tunisia

Cordoba, Spain, 800 AD

Horseshoe Arches

Mihrab

• Djenne Mosque, Mali, Africa

Palaces
• The Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1000 AD

• Court of Myrtles

Hall of Two Sisters

Muqarnas

Type of corbel but decorative, not structural
Based upon radial symmetry

Court of Lions

• Taj Mahal, 1600
India

Taj Mahal

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Arabesques: on surface, on onion dome