Module 5: Islamic Art
Mihrab (prayer niche), c. 1270, Konya, Turkey, now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin (photo: Glenna Barlow)
The prayer niche (or mihrab in Arabic) is the focal point in the interior of a mosque. The mihrab is surrounded with verses from the holy Qur'an inscribed in a type of Arabic script known as thuluth. Gold (or orange), turquoise, and green are predominant in this mihrab—the colors of the Prophet Muhammad and of paradise. Every mosque has a prayer niche in the qibla wall which orients the mosque towards the mecca. The Mihrab is usually the most decorated and ornate part of the mosque. It is essentially a mosaic of many colors and patterns highlighted with calligraphy.
This specific mihrab was created during the Saljuq rule. At this time, Seljuqs of Rum ruled Anatolia, what is now modern day Turkey whereas the remainder of the empire was ruled by the Seljuqs of modern-day Iran. During their brief rule, the Saljuqs of Iran were great advocates of education and the arts, and they established a number of significant madrasas (schools). The people of Anatolia were very diverse with their religious beliefs. The majority of people were Buddhist or Shamen while others practiced Christian traditions. The Saljuq projects as well as the earliest Islamic architecture highly relied on preexisting indigenous traditions. Material used to create these buildings consisted of wood, brick, and stone. The usage of wood in these creations shows just how impressive the craftsmanship really was. Wood is a difficult medium to use in this particular climate.
The geometric theme of this Mihrab and other Islamic architecture shows some of the artistic beauty in Arab culture.
Glenna Barlow, "Arts of the Islamic world: The medieval period," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015
https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-medieval-period/
Your historical background is very well done. You did it very briefly, but it was still understandable. I like how you mentioned that wood was a hard medium to work with at the time. I think it is something that some people don't think about much, that some mediums were very hard to use in certain time periods. While your explanation of this artwork is excellent, you were under the word count a little. Maybe next time you could add more about how the artwork was made. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeletePersonally I love the piece you chose to do for this module. The contrast between the blue and the gold or rather orange makes the piece pop out a lot. It was very interesting reading more and being able to understand the background of this piece. If you were to do this over again would there be any changes to your writing that you would want to make?
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