A question about Islamic art

[Mount Suribachi]

Specifically a question about Moorish art.

I'm having a discussion on another board about whether or not the Moors (or any Islamic culture/nation) created any art featuring living creatures or not. I've tried googling for moorish art and I can't find any statues or paintings of humans. I know the Taliban banned paintings and photos, citing the Koran for why.

Can anyone help me?

Cheers

MS

[Dimeola]

Everything that I have read says that it is sacreligious to Islam to portray Allah inany kind of art. Perhaps it is the same for people as well. I have done some research of mosques for my artwork and have only seen the patterned ornamentation. A search of islamic Art should turn something up on this.
D

[Quietus]

Usually Islamic art is restricted to simple, repeated, symmetrical, geometric patterns or lines. They don't flat out draw overtly because there's supposed to be no central figure. But they did use animals (elephant, camels), humans, scenery and daily life that are incorporated and blended within the pattern (or sometimes without the usual patterns).

I don't think art can be fully regulated, artists will express, that's what they do.

Also, how about the Alhambra with the Court of the Lions?

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Animals and -esp. in miniatures humans- as well as fantastic or supernatural characters have been widely used. There is no strict reference of any banishment to be found in the Scripture.

One major property of Islamic art is avoiding the exact reproduction or imitation of nature and stylizing it, which can be observed in plastic arts, literature and music. I can refer you to an excellently written article hoping that you find a decent English translation (the original is in French) but have to bookworm around a little bit.


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[Mount Suribachi]

Mouza and others, I have googled the internet, but the only pictures of Islamic art I can find are stylised or geometric - no statues or portraits or paintings of humans. Any links to Islamic generally or Moorish in particular examples of this art? I do know that as a part of a treaty between the Venetians and the Ottomans, that Venice had to send their top portait painter to Turkey to paint the Sultan, an indication perhaps that portrait painting was never developed amongst Islamic artists?

[Mouzafphaerre]

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...that Venice had to send their top portait painter to Turkey to paint the Sultan...

That must be Bellini painting the famous portrait of Sultan Mehmed II. As for "native" portraits, here is one for you, from the XVIth century:

Miniature portrait of Admiral of the Fleet Hayreddin Paşa, by Nigârî.
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[DemonArchangel]

Suribachi, i suggest the website of the freer gallery of art at the smithsonian.

[The Wizard]

There is plenty of Islamic art depicting other things than geometric patterns and stylized objects, although it seems to have been most common in the east of the Islamic world (Ottomans, Timurids, etc)...

Take an artist at the court of the last Timurid sultan, Husayn Bayqara and the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty of western Iran, for instance: Bihzad is one of the best artists of the world, and also the introducer of portraitry into Islamic art.

The Timurid period overall was a golden age for Islamic miniatures depicting romantic scenes, battles, and scenes from tales.



~Wiz

[Quietus]

Here's from searching the Net:

30 Masterpieces of Islamic Art (Louvre Museum)

Court of the Lions

[Watchman]

I've gotten the impression the Persians were on the whole rather irreverent when it came to art - at least if the very detailed miniature paintings of warriors all those arms-history books use are anything to judge by. And the Mamluks seem to have had no compunctions about using very life-like illustrations in their training manuals...

But they were apparently the exceptions. Most others seem to have taken the ban on pictorial representations fairly seriously.

[ivoignob]

picturing of humans and allah is forbidden especially in mosques and there are reasons why. however there are some nice pictures made by ottoman artists at this site
http://www.osmanlisanati.com/p10.html