Islamic Art: The Medieval Period
Mihrab (prayer niche), c. 1270, Konya, Turkey, now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin (photo: Glenna Barlow)
The picture depicted above is a single wall of a mosque. It was built in Konya, Turkey in c. 1207 and it can now be found in a Berlin museum today. Just like the early period, the medieval period consisted of art that expressed Islamic religion, just like this mosque. This building is said to be made by the Seljuqds. The Seljuqs were rulers from the Turkic origin. The people of Islam made use of this prayer niche by facing towards it when they pray. These buildings were often made of stone, brick, and wood, and often had representations of animals and humans within them. If you look closely, it seems as though there are animals or birds towards the top of this wall. Comparing this mosque to the one in my last blog post, it is inevitable that the people of Islam obtained much more knowledge about art. It was fascinating to compare art from the early period to the medieval period because it is a perfect way to see that art is always evolving in order to be greater than it was before.
Mosque lamp, Syria, 13th-14th century (Brooklyn Museum)
In my last blog post, I talked about Islamic art in the early period. Art in the early period mostly consisted of mosques. However, the medieval period commissioned many other styles of art to express their faith and culture, as well as their military. Military became a big part of Islamic culture this era was known to consist of military struggle. The glasswork depicted above is a lamp mosque that was created by the Mamluks. The Mamluks refer to the Turkish slaves that were soldiers for Ayyubid sultanate. Decorations like these ones were created because it was a way for leaders to display their wealth and make their power clear to others. These decorations were beneficial to the empire economically and culturally because they were often traded. Therefore, Malmuk craftsmen were able to incorporate elements from other empires. Aside from decorative glasswork like the one above, the Malmuks also created mosques. It is said that glasswork like this one represented wealth. I wonder how much money is cost to make this piece.
1.Barlow, Glenna, and Glenna Barlow. “Arts of the Islamic World: The Medieval Period,” 2020. https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-medieval-period/.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting piece of art that you chose. The single wall of a mosque that you described in the top of your blog post was absolutely incredible. I did not know how similar the early period and medieval period were when it came to their beliefs and how to express the Islamic religion. The colors and details that went into this makes me speechless. It is also interesting to see how art has evolved from the early period to the medieval period, yet with so many similarities. Overall, great post.