Among the stunning pieces created with this technique, the celestial globes and the pilgrim flasks are par-ticularly impressive.. Ayyubid craftsmen excelled in the production of ivory bo
Trang 1cally stirrup shaped, while the most common shape for
pen-dants and earrings was the crescent On some jewels animal
images were used
The artistic traditions of the Fatimids were adopted in
part by the Marinids from the south of Morocco (1196–1465),
who faced the North African political scene in the 13th
cen-tury In 1269 they became the new rulers and chose the city
of Fès as the center of their power The Merinids built
nu-merous mosques and madrasas, whose internal and external
walls were richly decorated Mosaic tile work covered the
lower part of the wall, while the upper part was embellished
by intricately carved stucco panels with flowers and plants
The two areas were linked by a frieze with Koran inscriptions
The ceilings were hidden by beautifully carved wooden
pan-els and the pavements by mosaic tile work
In the Moroccan decorative arts the artistic influence
from al-Andalus (Spain) is undeniable, but it was
accom-plished by the nomad Berbers, who still live in the Atlas
Mountains Their presence had an important impact on
carpet and ceramic production as well as on jewelry
produc-tion Goldsmiths and silversmiths created beautiful bracelets,
necklaces, earrings, and bent knives using the filigree
tech-nique with the application of semiprecious stones The
al-Andalus trend also emerges clearly in the Koran books In
southern Spain and North Africa the manuscripts were still
copied on parchment and not on paper
syria and EgyPt
(12th cEntury to 14th cEntury)
At the end of the 12th century Saladin (1137 or 1138–93),
known for his role in the fights against the crusaders,
founded the Ayyubid Dynasty (1169–1260) The kings ruled
a huge empire that stretched from Syria and Egypt to Yemen
and Arabia In the decorative arts, artisans were particularly
skilled in producing copper and bronze vessels, inlaid with
silver and gold Among the stunning pieces created with this
technique, the celestial globes and the pilgrim flasks are
par-ticularly impressive The celestial globes were carved with the
boreal (northern) and austral (southern) hemispheres and
the 12 signs of the zodiac, showing the interest of Muslim
as-trologists and astronomers in the sky and the stars The flasks
were used by Christians during their pilgrimages to the Holy
Land, and the decoration recalls events from the life of Jesus
Ayyubid craftsmen excelled in the production of ivory boxes
as well Some of them reached Europe and were added to the
church’s treasures, as gifts of the crusaders
A large group of extant manuscripts with miniature
paintings belongs to the Ayyubid Period The first examples
are translations of famous books of antiquity The Book of
An-tidotes, written by the Greek physician Galen (129–ca 199),
describes a series of remedies for poisoning, and De
mate-ria medica, written by the Greek physician Dioscorides (ca
40–ca 190), is a work on the medicinal properties of plants
In the 13th century literary books became popular For
ex-ample, Kalila and Dimma includes animal characters and fairy tales with moral teachings, and Maqamat (Assemblies)
by Hariri (1054–1122) offers anecdotes that mirror the society
of that time
In 1250, thanks to the marriage between the last queen
of the Ayyubids, Shajar ad-Durr, and the chief of the army, Aybak, power passed to a new dynasty, the Bahri Mamluks (1250–1382), who were succeeded by the Burgi or Circas-sian Mamluks (1382–1517) Sultans, emirs, and high-ranking members of the court ordered luxurious objects because they loved being surrounded by beauty and boldness and wanted
to hide their common origins
Artisans created handsome pieces in all media, but prob-ably the most representative are those made in glass, metal, and ivory The ability of the glassmakers emerges, in particu-lar, in mosque lamps, flasks, and bowls The lamps were hung from the ceilings of religious buildings and usually bore the inscription “Verse of Light,” taken from sura 24 of the Ko-ran Flasks and bowls were decorated with scenes of courtly life as well as earth and marine animals Among the metal pieces, the mirrors occupy a special place The most sumptu-ous examples were made in steel, richly inlaid with gold and silver The 12 signs of the zodiac were the common iconogra-phy, revealing the Mamluks’ interest in magic and astrology Craftsmen excelled in the production of ivory and wooden pieces The most handsome objects are those created by the combination of two media In these cases, doors of buildings,
minbars, and Koran boxes were made in wood, enriched with
carved geometric motifs in ivory
The opulence in the Mamluk arts is reflected also in the production of Koran books and miniature paintings The Ko-ran books were lavishly decorated on the frontispieces and the chapter headings Many frontispieces and finispieces have been enriched with star-shaped motifs on a background of polygonal forms Some Koran books were decorated with gold and had monumental dimensions with pages even a yard
in length Together with Koran books, the Mamluks ordered
literary and scientific works, such as the Maqamat, and
besti-aries (works related to animals), medical texts, and books on horsemanship
khorasan, afghanistan, and india (10th cEntury to 13th cEntury)
At the end of the 10th century the Turkic tribe the Ghaznavids (977–1186) came to power In a few decades their territories spread from Khorasan (in northeastern Iran) and Afghani-10 art: The Islamic World