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Over the next 1,400 years, Islamic artists would take these late Antique themes to extraordinary heights, creating one of the world's great artistic and intellectual traditions. Tune in next Monday for the next installment in #IslamicArt100Objects!
In the foreground are three faces of an octagonal building on pillars, the building is inset with mosaics depicting leafy plants in abstracted, scrolling patterns. In the background a square tower is visible. Treasury building of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria (705-715). Photo: James Gordon, Wikimedia Commons
December 2, 2024 at 7:46 PM
stephenniem.bsky.social
It's time for History of Islamic Art in 100 Objects!

And I want to begin with two objects that are not "Islamic" but which illuminate two seemingly contradictory (and often misunderstood) themes:

1. Islamic art values abstraction

2. Islamic art has abundant figural imagery

#IslamicArt100Objects
A group of ten men and women dressed in luxurious textiles stand facing frontally inside a heavily ornamented, abstracted architectural setting including a dome-like structure, a fountain, and textiles. Just left of center is a slightly taller woman wearing a crown draped with pearls and jewels and dressed in a purple robe with gold figural trim. She hands a gold bowl to another figure. Empress Theodora Mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale AD 547 Ravenna, Italy Two hands holding a bowl made of gold inset with transparent red garnets, white rock crystal, and green glass, molded in stylized floral patters. At center in transparent carved rock crystal is a crowned man seated on a throne with mythological creatures as its legs. the man is facing front and holding a sceptre. Two scarves flutter upward on both sides of his head. The Khosro Cup (Cup of Solomon) Gold, garnets, rock crystal, glass Probably 531-579 C.E.
December 2, 2024 at 7:45 PM
stephenniem.bsky.social
Alright *cracks knuckles* let's do this!

Today I'm inaugurating an episodic Monday series titled History of Islamic Art in 100 Objects. But we have to ask the most important question first:

What is Islamic art? Also, why is this even a question? 🧵 #IslamicArt100Objects
A horizontally-aligned panel consisting of four images of works of Islamic art: a page of black calligraphy on a peach-colored ground, a red and gold textile with a pattern of wavy vines and leaves, a manuscript painting featuring birds in a blue, green, and gold landscape with a gold sky, and a manuscript page with a central radiating medallion painted in intricate geometric and floral patterns in blue, gold, and red. Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/islamic-art
November 25, 2024 at 11:53 PM