Decoration, the Main Art of Islamic Civilization

By Huyam Abdul Wadoud

In some parts of the Islamic world like Turkey, India and Persia old books used to be decorated by miniatures of human or animal figures or by scenes of daily life, war or other specifics of social or cultural activities, which reveal the individual or collective imagination in a certain age in the past. Some of these miniatures are exquisite pieces of art and may be studied for the light they throw on the unique features of Islamic art. Starting from the second century (Hejira calendar), the ground rules began to be laid for the art of intricately illuminated Islamic manuscripts where intertwined lines seem to have a transcendental value. This richly harmonious system of decoration is based on three main elements: design motifs, calligraphy and scrollwork. These elements are used in perfect mixture with gilding and coloring to represent the innermost feelings of the artist and the typical emotions of the Muslim reader. The three elements merge dynamically and harmoniously against a perfectly matching background according to specific mathematical rules. The remaining space in the background is often gilded and colored to add a special touch of beauty to the original design.

Design motifs

This type of decoration consists of designs based on identical basic geometric figures that form a grid of lines. The decorative elements proceed from a central circle containing small identical squares and triangles set in symmetrical formations to produce an intricate design of octagons, hexagons, star-like polygons and other geometric shapes interlaced according to the set pattern. The central circle with which the decorative design starts vanishes completely or partly suggesting a background rich in figures and a crystalline system of organization. In spite of the variety of designs, some patterns may be highly recurrent like the star-shaped octagons or hexagons. Drawing repeatedly overlapping squares usually creates an octagon. The designer draws an initial circle, and inside the circle draws squares intersecting at an angle of 45 degrees. The number of squares determines the final figure; two squares produce an octagon, while three, four or five squares result in star-like shapes with twelve, sixteen or twenty sides. The repetition of octagons produces polygons of various geometric shapes. Basic geometric shapes like the triangle and the square are present in all decorative designs. The designer may either keep these shapes intact or remove some of their sides. In the latter case, the initial shape disappears and new geometric formations emerge: square-pattern grids, equilateral triangular grids, pentagonal grids and various other formations of combined polygons. These elements merge with other shapes like circles and spirals producing richly varied decorative intersections. In spite of the apparent intricacy, the resulting formations are basically governed by a simple mathematical structure dictated by the will of the designer. The seemingly endless fabric in plastic space creates a set of niches pervaded by inscription and by metamorphosed floral and vegetal patterns based on natural figures.

Calligraphy

The use of calligraphy or Arabic script as a decorative element was essential in producing beautifully illuminated manuscripts. Arabic script was developed to such perfection that it has become the central element in Islamic art. Initially a device used to give the appropriate glory to the copies of the Quran, Arabic calligraphy developed in time into the main art of the Islamic civilization. There are various Arabic scripts which are all governed by strict rules and are all characterized by structural elegance. The play of horizontal lines, right-angled serifs and graceful loops in different Arabic scripts produces an effect of rhythmical and dynamic structure intensified by the position of the letters whose succession seems to suggest an awesome procession. The inscription is usually set against a geometric background decorated with scrollwork of smoothly intertwining leaves, flowers and stems surrounding the letters, which, however, do

not impose on or change the meaning of the words. The letters do not only remain clear but they also acquire an additional symbolic meaning from the illumination.

Scrollwork

This kind of decoration, also known as arabesque or floral design, consists of floral and vegetal patterns drawn according to strict rules and fine miniaturization although they may seem too complex. Arabesque in general consists of curving, flat, round or sharp-edged leaves flowing in all directions in intersecting or spiral formations, either interspersing the geometric designs or surrounding the inscriptions. In the case of arabesque, the artist's work aspires to a degree of transformation and abstraction of natural elements that retains only a remote likeness to the original plants, which may have inspired the work. The resulting vegetal world dilates with the laws of succession and rhythm creating a sense of movement typical of all scrollwork. The various forms of Islamic decoration are governed in almost all cases by a basic structure that leads to variations determined by the designer and the style used to illuminate the manuscript. A designer may choose to use vegetal decoration out of an urge to imitate natural forms, and in so doing may not strictly abide by the established rules of thumb, but tends to represent the plant world more freely.

Line, Color and Movement

Muslim artists have excelled in using complex color palettes. They created new color compositions, which provoke the imagination by their splendor, please the eye and address the deeper feelings and emotions of the audience. A designer usually applies colors and gold lines after finishing the geometric designs, the calligraphy and the scrollwork. A fine blue frame is first drawn by a sharp-pointed pen, then an inside frame is drawn in red with a thin margin separating the two frames, which finally become a window surrounding the decorative pattern. Islamic decoration is characterized by great skill in mixing and producing colors, which, when applied to the page, seem to be superbly engaged in a kind of dialogue. Indeed, the colors develop new relationships based on the established rules of density, succession and contrast. Certain colors are used more often than others because they reinforce the effect of the decorative composition, and create a special atmosphere intended by the colorist. Red and orange, for example, are associated with fire and the sun and may therefore be used to suggest warmth and heat. Shades of green and blue, by contrast, are associated with cold lunar development and may be used to suggest cold. If the colorist together on one page uses the four colors, the effect will be that of skillful succession that suggests a sense of dynamism and remarkable luster. In this way, the skillful use of colors may represent the Muslim artist's joyful appreciation of and response to external nature

Islamic Art
(From the 6th century)

During the holy month of Ramadan in 610 CE, a merchant named al-Amin ("the Trusted One") sought solitude in a cave on Mount Hira, a few miles north of Mecca, in Arabia. On that night, (as Muslims believe) the angel Gabriel has appeared to him and commanded him to recite revelations from God. In that moment this merchant became Muhammad, the "Messenger of God". The revelations dictated by Gabriel at Mecca formed the basis of a religion called Islam ("submission to God's will"), whose adherents are referred to as Muslims. Today, nearly a billion Muslims turn five times a day toward Mecca to pray. Unlike the strong tradition of portraying the human figure in Christian art, Islamic art is often associated with the arabesque style. Early Islam forbade the painting of human beings, including the Prophet, as Muslims believe this tempts followers of the Prophet to idolatry. A prohibition against depicting representational images in religious art, as well as the naturally decorative nature of Arabic script, led to the use of calligraphic decorations, which usually involved repeating geometrical patterns that expressed ideals of order and nature. It was used on religious architecture, carpets, and handwritten documents.

The "Word of God" was recorded on a book known as the Qur'an ("recitation"), which is a compilation of Muhammad's revelations. To transcribe Muhammad's revelations, Arabic was adopted as the uniform script wherever Islam spread, and the very act of transcribing the Qur'an became sacred. It is expressed in the ancient Arabic proverb "Purity of writing is purity of the soul". To accomplish this holy duty, scribes developed Arabic calligraphy, the art of writing, to an extraordinary degree. Calligraphers draw from the Qur'an or proverbs as art, using the flowing Arabic language to express the beauty they perceived in the words of Muhammad. As a result, Islamic art throughout history has been abstract and decorative, portraying geometric, floral, arabesque, and calligraphic designs. Today we see the presence of Koranic Arabic, used for reading and prayer, and for decoration, as the foremost characteristic of Islamic religious art, wherever it is found in the world and among every race. Arabesque The Arabesque, one of aspects of Islamic art, usually found decorating the walls of mosques, is an elaborate application of repeating geometric forms that often echo the forms of plants and animals. The choice of which geometric forms are to be used and how they are to be formatted is based upon the Islamic view of the world. To Muslims, these forms, taken together, constitute an infinite pattern that extends beyond the visible material world, they in fact symbolize the infinite, and therefore nature of the creation of the one God (Allah). Geometric artwork in the form of the Arabesque was not widely used in the Islamic world until the golden age of Islam came into full bloom. During this time, ancient texts were translated from Greek and Latin into Arabic. Like the following Renaissance in Europe, math, science, literature and history were infused into the Islamic world with great, mostly positive repercussions. The works of Plato and especially of Euclid became popular among the literate. It was Euclid's geometry along with the foundations of trigonometry codified by Pythagoras that became the impetus of the art form that was to become the Arabesque. Plato's ideas about the existence of a separate reality that was perfect in form and function and crystalline in character also contributed to the development of the Arabesque. To the adherents of Islam, the Arabesque is symbolic of their united faith and the way in which traditional Islamic cultures view the world. There are two modes to Arabesque art: The first mode recalls the principles that govern the order of the world. These principles include the bare basics of what makes objects structurally sound and, by extension. The second mode is based upon the flowing nature of plant forms. This mode recalls the feminine nature of life giving. In addition, upon inspection of the many examples of Arabesque art, some can argue that there is a third mode, the mode of Arabic calligraphy. But calligraphy (as seen by the Muslims) is a visible expression of the highest art of all; the art of the spoken word - the transmittal of thoughts and of history. In Islam, the most important document to be transmitted orally is, of course, the Qur'an. Proverbs and complete passages from the Qur'an can be seen today in Arabesque art. The coming together of these three forms creates the Arabesque, and this is a reflection of unity arising from diversity (a basic tenet of Islam). The Arabesque can also be equally thought of as both art and science, some say. The artwork is at the same time mathematically precise, aesthetically pleasing, and symbolic. So due to this duality of creation, they say, the artistic part of this equation can be further subdivided into both secular and religious artwork. However, for many Muslims there is no distinction; all forms of art, the natural world, mathematics and science are all creations of God and therefore are reflections of the same thing (God's will expressed through His Creation). In other words, man can discover the geometric forms that constitute the Arabesque, but these forms always existed before as part of God's creation.

Islamic Art:
Islamic art is often defined in art books as being an art whose boundaries are not
geographical but theological. That is, this style of art called Islamic, was produced in many different geographic regions whose diverse cultures were unified through the religion of Islam. This is correct. Then these same books typically cite the Islamic ban on figural representation as a defining characteristic of the style. Next, they give some explanation as to why they believe that figural art was created in these areas, anyway. Finally, they go on to discuss the figural pieces right alongside the non-figural pieces as examples of Islamic Art. This is incorrect.

The Islamic religion still forbids the representation of figures and so, naturally, to call any art which contains figural representation "Islamic", is erroneous and offensive to Moslems (believers). For this reason, on this site at least, we will make a distinction between the figural representations (see miniature painting) and the non-figural pieces, which may be properly termed and discussed as Islamic art.

A New Culture

Islam began as a religious

movement in early 7th century Arabia and quickly spread throughout the Middle East. Before the next century Muslems had conquered and converted Byzantium and Persia, as well as parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. For the next six centuries, until the Mongol nomads sacked the Muslem capital of Baghdad in 1258, the nation of Islam was the world's largest empire and the site of a great cultural flowering.

Synthesis of many cultures

This Islamic culture linked for the first time in history, such varied and distant peoples as Spaniards, Africans, Persians, Turks, Egyptians and Indians. The uniting of so many diverse cultures under one flag and one religion had the advantage of quickly disseminating the latest and best discoveries to all parts of the realm. Paper making from China, "Arabic" numerals from India, classical Greek science and philosophy translations, were all shared. In medicine the Muslims enhanced Greek theory

Glass mosque lamp with enameled decoration inscribed with three quotations from the Quar'n and a dedication to Beybars II. Syrian, early 14th century. The Syrians were masters

by practical observation and clinical experience. Significant contributions were also made in chemistry, physics and mathematics. These diverse influences also encouraged new developments in the various fields of art.

of all of the various glass making techniques from early times. Much of the best Roman glass was made there.

Islamic contributions to different artistic fields:

Architecture

To the early
architects of the mosque we may attribute the development of the pointed arch, the brick dome, and brick vaulted arcades. Unique to Islamic architecture are the minaret , a tower from which the faithful are called to worship, and the gumbat, turbe or tomb tower .

Courtyard of the mosque of Ubn Tulun, Cairo showing pointed arches, brick dome and a minaret. 876-9

Interiors and sometimes exteriors of

the buildings were extensively decorated with off-set brick, stucco, ablaq (striping) or tile. Interior of the mausoleum of Sultan Suleyman, Istanbul, showing ablaq and tile work.1566. The form is derived from that of the gumbat.

Tiled exterior of the mausoleum of Tamerlane, the Gur Emir, at Samarkand. 1434.

Use of script in designs

Just as the universal adoption of Arabic script aided considerably in the melding
of these various cultures into one, the use of script as an artistic motif melded the art of these diverse peoples into a distinctive style. Muslims view Arabic as the sacred language and the writing of the Word as the highest form of art. Calligraphers hold a place of honor among Islamic artists. Two basic types of script are utilized in decoration: kufic, a very stylized, rather angular type of lettering and naskhi , a rounded cursive, flowing and easier to read.

Silks
Also famous throughout the world were Islamic textiles, especially silks; these rich fabrics were celebrated for their texture, colors and woven patterns, which included calligraphy, abstracted plants

and vine scrolls. Gold and silver threads often played a significant role amongst a riot of rich colors.

Ban on figural representation

The Islamic Hadith or Traditions forbade the use of animal or human figures from religious art. Instead, Islamic artists created rhythmic patterns of script, geometric designs, or abstracted plant and floral forms.

Silk court costume.

Turkish, early 16th century.

2. abstraction or stylization
The most famous Islamic motif, the arabesque, is a highly stylized version of a popular classical ornament, the acanthus plant's curving leaf. One way to stylize vegetation was to render it flattened, without light or shadow. Another was to create imaginary plants made up of elements borrowed from different types of vegetation. Finally an artist would isolate one part of the plant, repeat and rearrange it into an interlacing design.

Brass inkpot

Metalwork
In metalwork, Muslim artisans crafted elaborate boxes, basins, bowls, jugs and incense burners decorated with arabesques, inscriptions, and other highly stylized plant forms. These artisans specialized in brass and bronze, luxuriously inlaid with gold, silver and copper.

Carpets
The carpets of Islamic regions are world-renowned for their great beauty and technical excellence. Initially a peasant industry carpets were used not only as floor coverings, but as wall hangings, storage bags, cushions, blankets, prayer rugs, and saddle covers. The carpet styles of various regions developed independently of one another, employing different motifs and favoring certain color schemes.
Severe geometric abstractions characterized Caucasian carpets.

In Persia the designs were suave and poetic, the motifs usually naturalistic.

The Turkish carpet motifs were also derived from nature but highly stylized.

Ceramics
Islamic potters strove to equal in technical excellence the very fine wares then coming from China. Unfortunately they lacked the correct type of clay for the most delicate pieces. Despite this handicap

Mosque Lamp painted in blue and green. Turkish 16th century

they succeeded in creating pieces of great beauty and developed many original decorative techniques including lustre ware and a method of polychrome painted ware called Minai. These same decorative techniques were utilized in tile making, and in this industry at least, the Muslims were unsurpassed.

Dish painted in polychrome. Turkish

(Isnik) 16th century

Albarello Lustre painted on blue glaze.

Syrian or Egyptian, 14th century

Formal balance
One final characteristic of Islamic art, which is by no means unique to the style, but nonetheless notable, is the typical use of a very formal balance. The principles of balance and symmetry are strictly observed. In order to achieve symmetry the artist will repeat the same exact elements on both halves of a piece of art in reversed order, so that both halves mirror one another. Alternatively, a basic pattern may be constantly repeated across an expanse or around a central design or medallion.

Tile Panel in Saray, Istanbul. Mid-sixteenth century.

Painting
No ancient canvases or wood panel paintings of Islamic origin have been found. However, excavations have uncovered fragmented wall paintings of a secular nature and Muslims are responsible for a great number of illuminations, small paintings on paper which serve as illustrations for books. See miniature paintings. A golden leaf from the Quar'n.

A Humble Art

Islamic designs are created with rather humble aspirations; to enrich an environment or to beautify an object. They seek to enhance rather than to dominate. Islamic artists are not trying to reveal their own personality or to create art which tells a story of its own. This art willingly takes a secondary role because to Muslims, the lead roles were cast long ago. Allah is the personality of Islamic art and the Quar'n is the story.

This brief description of Islamic art is indebted to the extensive writings and research of David Talbot Rice, Desmond Stewart, and Ralph Pinder Wilson.

Islamic Art
by Elisabeth Siddiqui

An Introduction to Islamic Art

Art is the mirror of a culture and its world view. There is no case to which this statement more directly applies than to the art of the Islamic world. Not only does its art reflect its cultural values, but even more importantly, the way in which its adherents, the Muslims, view the spiritual realm, the universe, life, and the relationship of the parts to the whole. For the Muslim, reality begins with and centers around God ("Allah" in Arabic), the One, the Unique, the Sovereign, the Holy, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the Loving, the Most Merciful. All existence is subject to His will and His laws. He is the center of conscious Muslims' worship and aspirations, the focus of their lives. Since the command and authority are one, all things are bound together under God's Lordship as parts of an all-encompassing divine scheme, which includes all aspects of being and life -- whatever is both inside and outside of time and space, and embracing both the macrocosm in its most awesome manifestations and the microcosm in its most minute forms. God creates and sustains His creation how and as He wills, and all affairs return to Him for ultimate decision and judgment. With such a belief system, the Muslim is convinced of the balance and harmony of all things in existence, even when there appear to be confusing contradictions and imbalances, regarding these as the reflection of man's limited understanding and knowledge. Nothing is looked upon as occurring randomly or by chance, for all is part of the Plan of the All-Wise, Most Merciful Planner. One of the vital beliefs of the Muslim is that the totality of things, all good and evil, proceed from the Lord of all being. Because of the strict injunctions against such depictions of humans or animals which might result in idol-worship, Islamic art developed a unique character, utilizing a number of primary forms: geometric, arabesque, floral, and calligraphic, which are often interwoven. From early times, Muslim art has reflected this balanced, harmonious worldview.

The Islamic View of the Cosmos

In the Islamic view, God is the Ultimate Reality. All things in the visible creation emanate from Him and are manifestations of His divine Names or Attributes (Sifat). He created the cosmos, both what is known to man and what is unknown, and He is the Sustainer of all things, with everything turning to Him and centered upon Him. This is evident in the very structure of atoms .

The early Muslim artists and artisans who derived the intricate systems of interconnected geometric forms which constitute the bases of Islamic geometric art of course had no idea of such realities. Nonetheless, the graphic manner in which they conceived God's supreme central place in the cosmos, and the connection of the parts of creation to Him and to the whole, reflects a very significant approximation of what can now be documented by science.

The Tradition of Fine Craftsmanship

Throughout the history of Islam, its art has taken a great variety of forms in the different parts of the Muslim world, which stretches from North Africa to Southeast Asia, according to local customs and conditions, ranging from unsophisticated folk art to that of the most skilled artist or artisan. In the works of the latter, whether it be a master calligrapher, a renowned ceramists or potter, a skilled embroiderer or miniature-maker, the legacy of fine craftsmanship, involving the mastery of an art or craft along traditional lines complete with meticulous attention to fine detail, is characteristic. These traditions persist today, and Islamic architecture and decorative arts are still very much alive and valued in many parts of the Muslim world. While Western-style art forms and machine work have to an extent eroded the traditional forms, nonetheless, handwork is respected and loved, an important aspect of the decoration of mosques and Muslim homes. In particular, decoration featuring Qur'anic calligraphy is an important aspect of Islamic art.

The Ageless Legacy of Arabic Calligraphy

Arabic is the language of Islam. It is the language of its prophet, Muhammad; the language in which the Holy Qur'an, Islam's sacred scripture, was revealed to him by God; the language of Muslims' worship; and the language which binds Muslims of all times and places together in a single cohesive brotherhood. Because of Muslims' profound respect and love for the Qur'an, the art of calligraphy was developed among them from early times to a very high degree. Throughout the Muslim world, Qur'anic verses embellish mosques, palaces and homes, businesses, and, in some places, public areas. Often the calligraphy is done in conjunction with decorative motifs, lovingly embellishing what is most sacred and precious.

Due to its peculiar character, the Arabic script lends itself wonderfully to decorative use. Over the centuries, many different scripts have evolved in various regions of the Muslim world. Arabic is read from right to left, with an alphabet of twenty-six letters, of which three are long vowels. Short vowels are indicated by small symbols above or under the letters themselves.

"God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty"

-- so said the Prophet of Islam some 1400 years ago. He also said, "God likes that when you do anything, you do it excellently." Such prophetic sayings (hadiths) have provided the impetus for Muslims' embellishment and beautification of their places of worship, homes, and even of articles in common use in everyday life. The emphasis in Islamic art is on ornamentation rather than on art for art's sake; while the names of the producers of the finest works of Islamic art may not have survived, their works have become prototypes and models on which other artists and craftsmen patterned their works, or from which they derived the impetus for related work. An example of this is a small pouch embellished with cross-stitch embroidery and ornamented with coins. The pouch holds a small unseen bottle, which Jordanian Bedouin women used to hold kohl, a natural eyeliner. But in keeping with the Muslim tradition of ornamenting utilitarian articles, a very ordinary brown glass bottle has been given a place of honor in a beautifully embroidered work of decorative art. Such arts as embroidery and fine crocheting were commonplace skills among Muslim women in the past -- and still are in some places in the Muslim world -- as each growing girl and her mother worked in periods of spare time during the years before the girl's marriage to produce a set of finely hand-worked bed linens, towels, prayer rugs, quilt, tablecloths, and the like for the bride to take to her new home. Today, the finest arts, including rugs, are to be found in Turkey, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, India, Egypt and Morocco, where the legacy of Islamic arts remains alive and strong.

The Art of the Ottomans after 1600

o o o o o
Artists Rulers Early Period Medieval Period Later Period

Album leaf, 17th century; Ottoman Turkey Ink, colors, and gold on paper

9 5/8 x 7 in. (24.3 x 17.9 cm) Louis V. Bell Fund, 1967 (67.266.7.8r)

Portrait of Sultan Ahmed I, 17th century; Ottoman Turkey Colors and gilt on paper

13 1/2 x 8 3/4 in. (34.3 x 22.2 cm) Rogers Fund, 1944 (44.30)

Genealogical scroll, 17th century; Ottoman Turkey Inks and gilt on paper, silk

26 ft. 8 1/4 in. x 13 in. (8.123 m x 33 cm) Anonymous Gift, 1967 (67.272)

Cushion cover, 17th century; Ottoman Turkey Silk and metal thread

39 5/8 x 25 1/4 in. (100.6 x 64.1 cm) Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 (30.95.66)

Hizb (Litany) of an-Nawawi, 1152 A.H./1730 A.D. Turkey Ink, colors, and gold on paper

7 1/2 x 4 13/16 in. (19.1 x 12.2 cm) Gift of Richard Ettinghausen, 1975 (1975.192.1)

View SlideshowView Thumbnails In the early seventeenth century, both Ottoman book production and architecture remained traditional. The court scriptorium continued to produce its established series of textsbiographies, travel accounts, genealogies, and geographiesmany of which were illustrated or illuminated. The Mosque of Ahmed I in Istanbul (160916), also known as the "Blue Mosque" because of the interior tile scheme, continues in the vocabulary of the great architect Sinan (15391588).
Related

Anatolia and the Caucasus, 16001800 A.D. Arabian Peninsula, 16001800 A.D. Balkan Peninsula, 16001800 A.D. Central and North Asia, 16001800 A.D. Egypt, 16001800 A.D. Iran, 16001800 A.D. Iraq, 16001800 A.D. South Asia, 16001800 A.D. The Eastern Mediterranean, 16001800 A.D.

The Age of Sleyman "the Magnificent" The Art of the Ilkhanid Period (12561353)

The Art of the Mughals after 1600 A.D. The Art of the Ottomans before 1600 The Arts of Iran, 16001800 The Arts of the Book in the Islamic World, 16001800 Calligraphy in Islamic Art Carpets from the Islamic World, 16001800 Commercial Exchange, Diplomacy, and Religious Difference between Venice and the Islamic world Early Modernists and Indian Traditions Europe and the Islamic World, 16001800 Figural Representation in Islamic Art Fontainebleau Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art The Greater Ottoman Empire, 16001800 Hagia Sophia, 53237 Indian Textiles: Trade and Production Islamic Arms and Armor Islamic Art and Culture: the Venetian Perspective Islamic Art of the Deccan Ivory and Boxwood Carvings, 14501800 The Later Ottomans and the Impact of Europe List of Rulers of the Islamic World The Nature of Islamic Art NineteenthCentury Court Arts of India NineteenthCentury Iran: Art and the Advent of Modernity Orientalism in NineteenthCentury Art Shah 'Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp Vegetal Patterns in Islamic Art Venice and the Islamic World, 8281797 Venice's Principal Muslim Trading Partners: the Mamluks, the Ottomans, and the Safavids

West Asia, 16001800 World, 16001800

Islamic Art in the Later Period

Anatolia and the Caucasus Interior

Calligraphy

Calligraphy from Europe Calligraphy from West Asia Miniature Painting Miniature Painting from West Asia

Book Manuscript Islamic Manuscript Mosque Architecture Mosque Architecture from West Asia

Islamic World Textile with Floral Motif

Later in the century, a weakening Ottoman economy began to affect the arts. An influx of gold and silver from the New World caused inflation and the treasury shrunk without military victories and booty to refill the coffers. The sultans were forced to reduce the number of artists they employed in the nakkahane (royal scriptorium) to ten from the high of over 120 in the time of Sleyman the Magnificent (r. 152066), and for many years did not increase the set prices they paid for ceramics, paintings, and carpets. It became more profitable for artists to produce items for the open market than to be tied to the workshops of the low-paying court, and sultans had to pass edicts forcing them to finish imperial commissions. One of the few arts that maintained a high level of quality was calligraphy. Hafiz Osman (16421698) was the master of this era, teacher to Sultan Mustafa II (r. 16951703) and his son, Sultan Ahmed III (r. 170330). Under Ahmed III the arts revived. He built a new library at the Topkapi Palace and commissioned the Surnama (Book of Festivals, ca. 1720, Topkapi A.3593), which documents the circumcision of his four sons as recorded by the poet Vehbi. The paintings detail the festivities and processions through the streets of Istanbul, and were completed under the direction of the artist Levni (d. 1732), whose work is also known from a set of portraits collected in a Murakka (Topkapi H.2164). While his style was traditional, other artists of his time were greatly affected by the European prints and engravings that began to circulate in Ottoman lands. Ahmeds reign is also known as the Tulip Period. The popularity of this flower is reflected in a new style of floral decoration that replaced the saz style of ornament with serrated leaves and cloud bands that had characterized Ottoman art for many years, and is found in textiles, illumination, and architectural ornament. The architecture of this period is exemplified in the monumental fountain constructed by Ahmed III outside the gate to the Topkapi Palace. Ambassadors dispatched to Paris and Vienna sparked further changes with their descriptions of the Baroque architecture of Versailles and Fontainebleau, but many of the Baroque-inspired palaces built during Ahmeds reign were destroyed in the revolt that forced him to abdicate in 1730. The earliest building to survive is the Nur-u Osmaniye Mosque (174855), begun by Mahmud I and finished

by Osman III. Its flamboyant decoration, ornate moldings, and vegetal carvings are the hallmark of the style that continued into the nineteenth century.
Marika Sardar Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Source: The Art of the Ottomans after 1600 | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art