In this essay, it discusses that the origins of Islamic art are not what most people might think compared to art of other regions. Some of the main idea’s this essay explains is that Islamic art in itself is an oxymoron; it can even be considered un-Islamic. A popular Muslim belief once was that art was unacceptable. Many Muslims used the teachings of the Koran to justify their beliefs that art was against their religion. The author explains to us that Muslims had a distaste for all things art, including painting, sculpture, decorative arts and architecture. This belief of Islamic art being forbidden challenges us, because when we look at Islamic art and architecture, a word that comes to mind is eccentric, or detailed, such as The Dome of
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An excerpt from the Quinisext Council, 692 CE of the Byzantine Empire states, “let your eyes look directly forward; keep your heart with all vigilance. Wisdom demands it, for the bodily sensations easily enter the soul. We therefore ordain that misleading paintings which corrupt the intelligence by exciting shameful pleasures not be represented in any way and that anyone who undertakes to make such an object be excommunicated.” They were worried about the effects of misleading art representations. Eventually, the Byzantine Empire underwent a period of art iconoclasm. This period led to the restriction of many religious arts, which until then, had been their main form of artistic expression. Many famous apse mosaics were destroyed during this time. This period was eventually overturned and their fame for religious arts continued, eventually influencing Islamic art. Muslim artists were then trained in Byzantine styles and Byzantine artists continued to be imported for important art pieces until the fall of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire. Just like the anxiety they shared, they also shared differences. In Islamic art, according to the Koran as discussed earlier, it is not permitted in Islamic art to depict religious figures such as Muhammad, or any human figure at all for that matter. In Byzantine art, the main purpose was to express and glorify their religion, despite any anxieties that were present. Going back to the Maqamat of al-Hariri used as an Islamic art example from this essay, if we compare it to a Byzantine art piece looked at in class such as Emperor Justine mosaic from the apse wall in the Church of San Vitale, both display figures but in entirely different manners. In the Islamic example, the figures are clearly made to be deceased, which could be accepted. In the Byzantine example
An excerpt from the Quinisext Council, 692 CE of the Byzantine Empire states, “let your eyes look directly forward; keep your heart with all vigilance. Wisdom demands it, for the bodily sensations easily enter the soul. We therefore ordain that misleading paintings which corrupt the intelligence by exciting shameful pleasures not be represented in any way and that anyone who undertakes to make such an object be excommunicated.” They were worried about the effects of misleading art representations. Eventually, the Byzantine Empire underwent a period of art iconoclasm. This period led to the restriction of many religious arts, which until then, had been their main form of artistic expression. Many famous apse mosaics were destroyed during this time. This period was eventually overturned and their fame for religious arts continued, eventually influencing Islamic art. Muslim artists were then trained in Byzantine styles and Byzantine artists continued to be imported for important art pieces until the fall of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire. Just like the anxiety they shared, they also shared differences. In Islamic art, according to the Koran as discussed earlier, it is not permitted in Islamic art to depict religious figures such as Muhammad, or any human figure at all for that matter. In Byzantine art, the main purpose was to express and glorify their religion, despite any anxieties that were present. Going back to the Maqamat of al-Hariri used as an Islamic art example from this essay, if we compare it to a Byzantine art piece looked at in class such as Emperor Justine mosaic from the apse wall in the Church of San Vitale, both display figures but in entirely different manners. In the Islamic example, the figures are clearly made to be deceased, which could be accepted. In the Byzantine example