Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
1006913179
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Johnson, N. J.(Nola Jeanette),1938-
Title
Paradisiacal imagery in early Islamic art.
Degree
Ph. D. -- University of Toronto, 1998
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2001]
Description
3 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
This thesis considers the Qubbat al-Sakhrah's construction to have been a regional response, couched in a regional artistic vocabulary, to counter what was perceived to be a serious regional problem, the distracting effect of the beauties of Christian churches and, that Abd al-Malik's text in the Qubbat al-Sakhrah reflects the ideological threat, by stating Christian beliefs and pointing out their inappropriateness for Muslims. It proposes that the Qubbat al-Sakhrah's ornament represents the Qur'an̄'s numerous descriptions of Paradise as a wondrous garden of shady groves and trees bearing every kind of fruit. Byzantine art provided the model for the visualization of the paradisiacal imagery, and the art of the Sas̄an̄id empire contributed the fantastical, otherworldly elements that might be imagined of Paradise. The Qubbat al-Sakhrah's heavenly garden was not an isolated phenomenon, as versions of it are attributed to at least three mosques; furthermore, two distinct, deliberate iconographic images developed from the Qubbah's ornament. One of these shows a hypostyle mosque with a column and vase in its courtyard. A religious context may have been envisaged for this imagery, but there is evidence also of its popular manifestation. The second iconographic image was employed secularly, taking the form of a distinctive arcade through which naturalistic or very stylized vegetation can be seen. This version of the imagery appears as architectural decoration and was used in, or used to point to, areas in which public audiences might be held. Popular versions of the arcade imagery found on portable objects show that birds and animals as well as vegetation might be seen through the arches. In the Qubbat al-Sakhrah's shape, ornament and text, the building's patron showed himself alert and responsive to the cultural and religious environment. The development of Islamic iconographical forms suggests that the threat perceived from other religious iconographies continued beyond the erection of the Qubbat al-Sakhrah and that Islam was still attempting to define itself, but, as with the Qubbah, contemporary artistic vocabularies were used to construct a Muslim answer to a Muslim need.
ISBN
0612539040
9780612539044