Three Components Of Traditional Islamic Art example essay topic

There exist three basic components of traditional Islamic art: calligraphy, geometric patterns, and floral and vegetal motifs. These three stylistic tools are beautifully rendered and masterfully integrated into complex works of art, but there is no question that artistic expression is severely limited under these categorizations. However, this limitation stems from Islamic theology and concept of art. The main reason for the limitation imposed on visual art is the Islamic theological prohibition of figural imagery.

Social laws presented in the Hadith prevented the representation of figures because any imitation was deemed idolatrous. Also, art is considered to be decorative and imitative. Script and patterns are used to decorate objects, whether they be architectural structures, prayer rugs, ceramics, and books. The geometric objects naturally led to artistic patterning and repetition. Although the Islamic community prohibited figural imagery, the community's rapid expansion during the centuries after its inception diluted the rigidity of traditional customs. Assimilated countries and cultures that practiced figural art before the Islamic armies came continued to do so.

These assimilated artistic styles did utilize figural imagery, yet they still reflected the traditional artistic components of Islam. The introductory plaque at the entrance of the Islamic Art collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art states that Islamic art is characterized by 'stasis,' and that even assimilated foreign styles have "always retained its intrinsic quality and unique identity". The beautifully rendered book miniatures of the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp illustrate this last point wonderfully. The Shahnama, translated as "The Book of Kings", is an Iranian national epic penned by the poet Firdausi between 975-1010 AD. Centuries later, it became the custom for shahs to have their own personal copy of the Shahnama. This naturally transformed the quality of the book into measurement of status.

The second shah of the Safavid dynasty, Tahmasp, was a great patron of the arts. Not only did he have his copy ornamented with gold, silver, rich colors, and exquisite calligraphy, he employed the most distinguished artists of the time to paint the two-hundred-and fifty-eight inked figural miniature paintings that accompany each page of text. Although all the miniatures are of similar style, the "Sufarai Victory Over the Haital" envelopes the range of the Safavid figural painting during the first half of the sixteenth-century, as well as the three components of traditional Islamic art. The miniatures serve the traditional Islamic functions of art of ornamentation and imitation. Oddly enough, the miniatures are second imitations; they are the imitation of the scribed words, which in turn imitate the actual legendary event. The Arabic words are the most important artistic representation of the page.

The word is the substance of the book; the attached miniatures are merely pictorial representations of the written story. This subjugation of the picture to the word is physically demonstrated, for the text on the page, in the same fashion of all the pages in the Shahnama, is placed above the miniature. This placement has theological implications. In Islam, Arabic text is considered the literal word of God for the Que " an was revealed in Arabic.

So, if the word of Allah is reflected in the symbols of Arabic script, then symbolically Allah is manifested in the text. This is consistent within popular Islamic thought. Walter Denny writes that objects were decorated with sacred script for it was thought to "invoke good wishes on the owners of pottery and metalwork, and kept the evil eye from thresholds and hearths". Consequently, Allah is present in the "Sufarai" miniature not through a figural image, for that would extremely blasphemous, but through the written text.

This is similar to the western tradition of using mysterious or divine light to represent God without a figural image. Therefore, the placement of the text over the picture alludes to Allah's descending or presiding over the miniature. The divine words, which are only intelligible through human reasoning, abrogate the visible and mortal realm of the figural imagery. In the "Sufarai" miniature as well in many other pages, a concluding phrase is placed in a rectangle in the lower left corner of the painting. Extending the metaphor, Allah is not just above the mortal realm; neither spatial nor temporal, He completes surrounds it. In addition to the preeminence given to the word, the artist uses geometric patterns throughout the page.

The frame is a set of straight parallel lines that orient the picture on the page. However, there is no standard rectangular frame. The artist, Abd-al Aziz, has his pictured scene boil over onto the page's margin. In the "Sufarai" miniature, the frame juts inward at the upper-right corner, which while breaking the symmetry of the composition, compartmentalizes the text and painting and further separates the divine and mortal realms. Geometric shapes are present in forms of the painted figures as well. The horses are all drawn the same and are developed from underlying shapes.

The body is composed of two circles; the neck, head, and legs are derived from triangular shapes. In addition, the circular shields, placed flat to viewer, are eye-catching basic shapes that contrast the overall frenzy of action. Floral motifs are placed on the costumes and arms of the warriors, as well as on the horses' protective garments. Containing the three components of Islamic art, this work follows tradition and maintains the 'unique identity" of Islamic art. However, Bish dan Qar a does borrow from the figural tradition of pre-Islamic Iran. Apart from the calligraphy, geometrical patterns, and floral motifs, this work stands on its own as a figural image.

Following eastern figural tradition, the painting lacks perspective. All the figures are flat against the page. Like playing cards, the images have been tossed onto one another. There is little twisting of the torso although the warriors are violently flailing their weapons.

Yet even without perspective the painting maintains a formed composition. The foray is carefully staged so that the space is balanced and all the pertinent actions of the warriors remain visible. The figures of the scene, the warriors of Haital and Sufarai, immediately command the observer's attention. The intense action does suit the themes of the painting: war, victory, death, and honor. However, the faces don't reflect the intensity. Each face is exactly the same with high arched eyebrows that give everyone the look of unnatural surprise.

Perhaps, the uniformity of the faces is nothing more than an elaborate repetition of a faced motif. Furthermore, the similarity gives the sense that each warrior is not a particular man, nor is the fight a particular event, but both are universal; war and its consequences are experienced by every man. Though the painting may imply universal plight, the depiction represents a particular moment in time. Although violent, the miniature presents the moment of apprehension, the moment before the impact of the sword and the resulting death through which one leaves the mortal realm for the divine. In fact, the uniform face heightens the tension of the painting, because the observer gets no sense of the warrior's predictions of victory or defeat.

The outcome is unknown to the warriors, even though symbolically Allah knows for the result is written above in the text. Even the observer of the work knows following his or her reading. The warrior's ignorance only makes the fated defeat and death more tragic. The war ends in a Sufarai victory and the national honor of pre-Islamic Iran is restored. Interestingly, Islamic history has nothing to do with the content of the story, yet its influence is apparent in the Arabic text, geometric designs, floral motifs, and resulting implications. Though breaking the proscription of images, the "Sufarai Victory Over the Haital, as well as all the miniatures in Tahmasp's Shahnama, retain the "intrinsic quality and unique identity" of Islamic art..