Class Blog: Islamic and Byzantine Art and Religion

Islamic and Byzantine Art and Religion: Grace LaFrentz

I. Introduction

What does the art of a culture say about the extent of its religious devotion? Often, the designs and rules of art exist to honor the religion of the artist. Art from the Islamic Civilizations, for instance, was strictly patterned and had rules in respect to Allah. One of the most influential pieces of Muslim art is the Muslim Prayer Niche because it includes so many elements of Muslim Art, such as calligraphy and geometric patterns. Art from the Byzantine Empire was “religious and imperial,” and put emphasis on aspects of art that artists felt would please God. One of the best representations of art from the Byzantine Empire is the beautiful Hagia Sophia because of its “harmony” and “workmanship.” Though art from the Islamic Civilizations and the Byzantine Empire were stylistically different, they both conveyed through their respect and intricacy how greatly each group valued its religion.

First Body Paragraph: The Islamic Civilizations

Topic Sentence: Art from the Islamic Civilizations had strict rules about what was acceptable to draw, demonstrating the importance of the Muslims’ respect towards Allah.

Aspects of Islamic Art

Primary Source

Muslim Prayer Niche

Includes aspects of many elements of Islamic art

Paraphrase of Secondary source (description of the Muslim prayer niche): According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this prayer niche is an incredibly important piece of religious Islamic art for several reasons. One is that it includes so many elements of traditional Islamic art. It is made up of ceramic tiles, painted with “intricate arabesque and calligraphic designs.” Another reason this piece of art is important is because of its historical value. It used to be a part of a wall in a "theological school in Isfahan” and was used for prayer to Allah. It is also one of the first pieces found that uses "moasic tilework."

Allah

Since Allah was worshipped directly, Muslims were not allowed to draw Allah.
Drawings of people are uncommon in Islamic art because Muslims believe that only Allah can create people. This demonstrates how much the Muslims respected Allah, because they were willing to give up some of the freedom of art in order to make sure they did not disrespect him.
The Muslim prayer niche is intricate and beautiful, but does not contain any pictures of humans or Allah.

Calligraphy

Since there was no specific “iconic image” like the cross, the Muslims used calligraphy to beautify their sacred text
The Muslim prayer niche has calligraphic designs drawn all over its tiles. The calligraphy on it is used for several reasons. The first is that it helps create an aesthetically pleasing design with an almost floral appearance. The calligraphy also has a more practical purpose, as it is probably a prayer.

Geometric Patterns

Geometric patterns demonstrated tawhid (“the unity of all things”)
Complex and intricate patterns showed balance and symmetry which conveyed beauty.

Arabesques

Geometric floral patterns

Metalwork, Glass Work, Ceramics, Textiles

I. Second Body Paragraph: The Byzantine Empire

Topic Sentence: Byzantine art was regal and formal, but was still crafted with the purpose of pleasing God.

Aspects of Art from the Byzantine Empire

Primary Source: The Hagia Sophia
Paraphrased 1st Paragraph
a. According to Procopius, When Justinian was the emperor, some of the people from the lower classes rebelled against him and burned down the Sophia church to prove they did not care about God. Justinian claimed the only reason God let the church be burnt down was because God knew this would be a good opportunity for an even more beautiful church to be built. Justinian spared no expense to have only the best materials used and the best architects design the church. It was even said that if the old church was still there and the people had seen the layout of the new church, they would have burned down the old church anyways.

According to Procopius, the church was built by Justinian, who built it “regardless of expense.” This proves how much the people cared about it being perfect for God, because they would pay any price to have it built correctly.
Some of the reasons people saw the Hagia Sophia as beautiful were, its “height,” “harmony,” “proportion,” “light,” “dome,” “art,” “workmanship,” “gold,” “marble,” “equality and similarity,” “porticos and cloistered courts,” “columns,” “color,” and “gold and silver plates and gems.”

Mosaics

The Byzantine mosaics were created to send a message. Huge mosaics of Christ and his apostles were often hung at the entries of churches to show the people how important Christ was to them.
There were several huge mosaics hung in the Hagia Sophia. One of the most famous of these is the Deesis Mosaic.