Art in Islam World: Historical and Emotional Narration (Research Paper Sample)

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Art in Islam World: Historical and Emotional Narration
I derive so much pleasure when the topic of art in Islam world is brought up during discussions. I am part of Islam’s art, not indirectly connected, but directly related through my grandpa. Grandpa’s contribution in renovating and restoring the glory two most monumental landmarks in the Islam world: The Damascus Mosque and The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, remain our family’s great assets. Grandma remains ever proud of his husband’s involvement after the Second World War. Grandpa’s artistic ability and skills in ornamental decoration earn him a place in the Islam’s hall of fame as far as art is concern. Grandpa has probably had a more reflective and influential influence on our family’s participation and career in art, not only through his zeal but through inspiring our community, than any other living old man.
There is no edition of art, behind present-day art, that is romantic, breathtaking, and practical than the Islamic art. Art of the Islam world covers an extensive range of material, buildings, and religious fashions from the prehistoric Islam foundation to the current day. This has influenced the construction and design of structures and buildings in the Islamic culture. Mosques, tombs, and palaces are example of prime forms of the Islamic architecture. Most of the new elements of the Islamic architecture were introduced during the Umayyad era. In his 2009 book, Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Fred Kleiner seconded the artistic of Muslim caliphs and considered them "builders on a grand scale." Islam’s art developed from different sources and encompassed visual arts, developed by residents who lived the present-day Middle East.
After the World War II, Imam from the local mosque approached grandpa with a proposal to accompany him to Jerusalem. As an artist, grandpa was skilled in calligraphy, painting, and tilling. Calligraphy and Islam, as a religion, has different similarities. An important aspect in Quran is the calligraphy and decoration of the manuscripts. The Imam had witnessed, first-hand, Grandpa’s artistic ability and thought that his creativity and skill will not only help in renovating the Dome of the Rock, but also earn him a communal stardom. Upon arrival in Jerusalem, Grandpa amazed Imams and Sheiks with his inborn creativity in painting, calligraphy, and tilling. Jerusalem can be described as a separate entity given its vast monumental buildings, temples, and synagogues. The task of renovating the Dome of the Rock was initiated, and it presented an opportunity to Grandpa to exercise his expertise on the global picture.
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem, is the earliest and of the most magnificent achievements of Islamic architecture. The dome was built between 688 and 692 A.D., around 60 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad. It was built toward the end of the 17th century, by Caliph Abd al Malik of Damascus on the elevated Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount was once Jewish’s site and the Romans destroyed CITATION Tit09 \l 1033 (Burckhardt and Nasr). The dome consists of two sections joined into one another. The first is a tall cylinder of aluminum alloy, with a diameter of 20 meters and a height of 25 meters. The cylinder is set over a great natural and rocky outcrop. The second one is an octagonal ring, of about 48 meters in diameter, of four huge piers and pillar around the central rock CITATION Ole06 \l 1033 (Grabar). It is an octagonal building with a golden dome ceiling. The dome sits on a weighty drum supported by four giant piers and 12 pillars CITATION Cun091 \l 1033 (Cunningham and Reich). The Dome of the Rock is a famous Islamic site in Israel. It represents the crowning glory of the Temple Mount, an extraordinary and beautiful structure. Grandpa was responsible of renovating the interior features of the edifice with stylized representations of vegetation. This interior features evoke interesting garden while rich jewelries are depicted abundance. In addition, the inscription on the interior side of the octagonal walkway had to be renovated. This inscription dates from the redecoration under the reign on Suleiman.
Dome of the Rock: Visual and Historical Analysis
Visual analysis can be defined as the description, from a standpoint, that conveys the entirety of the work revealed by the art, and at the same time communicate the most important traits by translating what one sees and experience into words. Just before the late middle age, the interior of the building is lavishly decorated with mosaics just like the outside of the building. During the late middle age, tiles replaced the mosaic outside the building. The building is clearly indebted to the Roman and the Byzantine architecture, yet the Koranic verses in the interior makes it to serve an Islamic function. The walls of the octagonal rock, currently ornamented with Turkish ceramic tiles, were once before covered with ceramics. The four portals unfold onto the four prime points thereby situating the building figuratively, at the heart of the world. There is no representation of animate beings in ornamental decorations of the Dome of the Rock CITATION Tit09 \l 1033 (Burckhardt and Nasr).
A time, the Dome of the Rock is referred to as the Mosque of Umar. This is inaccurate, because it was founded by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik and not by Umar. Umayyad Caliph built the dome covering the sacred rock during the time when Mecca had fallen, to the hands of Ibn az-Zubayr, Abd al-Malik rival. This enabled the faithful to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem in preference to Mecca, where the pilgrims were provisionally banned. The rock is holy to the Muslims for the following reasons; for the memory of Abraham, who went to sacrifice his only son on top of Mount Moriah; the Solomon’s temple, a spot where the ‘holy of the Holies’ stood upon; lastly, owing to the reason that the Prophet Muhammad had been taken there in his "night journey." The plan of the rock expresses the synthesis of; the circle and a square, movement and relaxation and time and place. This synthesis is expressed in a remarkable style, by the building’s exterior shape where the dome’s ‘heavenly’ sphere connects the octagon’s ‘earthly’ crystal CITATION Tit09 \l 1033 (Burckhardt and Nasr).
According to Sacred Destinations, the dome is the oldest Islamic monument that remains notable in present-day world, unquestionably one of the most attractive monuments. Despite boasting one of the surviving mihrab, the Jews believe the rock to stand in place where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Many believe that the rock stands in where used to be Solomon and Herod’s temple. Participating in renovation of such a monumental structure makes grandpa a hero. As a shrine for pilgrims, the rock competes with the magnificent churches of the Christendom. The interior decoration of the rock speaks to the Christians while the location of the rock speaks the Jews. It is a symbolic statement, the superiority of Islam, to Jews and Christians.
Two decades ago, grandpa made another come back to the world of art in the renovation of the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. Damascus is presently soiled with daily bombings and massive civil unrest. On 24 April 2014, the 11th-century minaret was destroyed as the fighting raged in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Neither the government nor the rebels took the blame they kept pointing fingers. Destroying the mosque is tantamount to blowing up the Acropolis in Athens. It was a sheer disaster in terms of not only heritage, but also the archaeological world. Grandpa took part in renovating the mosque in 1992. The renovation process was concluded in 2006. I witnessed the renovation process, though distanced from the site itself. Grandpa was asked to join a team of artist in renovating the mosque in early 1991 and he did not let that opportunity pass by. Together with a team of twenty, headed by an engineer, they were responsible renovating the arcades comprising of columns and piers. They painted the columns with colorful mosaics and topped the marble panels with attractive murals. The renovation process brought Grandpa an overwhelming sense of composure and harmony, a moving experience, one not frequently experienced in lifetime.
Damascus Mosque
Abd al Malik’s son, al Walid, built the great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. The great mosque was built on the site that used to be the Roman temple; hence, turning it to Byzantine church. The massive walls are besieging the church complex act as the walls of the mosque CITATION Placeholder1 \l 1033 (Cunningham and Reich). The Damascus Mosque combines the elements received from the other cultures into a tale of united architecture. This includes the idiosyncratic elements of mihrab, minaret, minbar and mihrab dome of the Islam CITATION Gar06 \l 1033 (Gardner, Kleiner and Mamiya).
Damascus Mosque: Visual and Historical Analysis
The great Umayyad mosque of Damascus establishes the idea of Spatial Sunnah. This concept is vital; since the search for a model is prone to confusion by the hybrid examples traits whose origins frequently predate Islam. The issues that alter the idiom spatial ‘Sunnah’ are raised by the aesthetic of the Damascus mosque since the mosque entertains the application of ornamental features though still retaining a well-designed similarity with the elemental edifice. The mosque is also a simulacrum, a cross reflection whose elements of structure were adapted from the Roman and Byzantine edifices CITAT...