Venice and the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture, 1100–1500 - Hardcover

Howard, Deborah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300085044 ISBN 13: 9780300085044

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Precious spices and textiles, imported from distant trading posts in the eastern Mediterranean, stocked Venetian markets in the Middle Ages; but Venice’s merchants imported more than material goods from the East—they acquired also a wealth of visual ideas and information from Muslim culture. This lively and richly illustrated book investigates the influence of oriental trade and travel on medieval Venice and its architecture.

Architectural historian Deborah Howard examines the experiences of Venetian merchants overseas, focusing on links with Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, as well as with Persia and the Silk Route. She argues that many Venetians gained insight into Islamic culture through personal contacts with their Muslim trading partners. Based on wide-ranging multidisciplinary research, this book examines the mechanisms that governed the exchange of visual culture across ideological boundaries before the age of printing. Howard explores a range of building types that reflect the impact of Islamic imagery, paying special attention to two icon buildings, San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale. She considers the complexities of importing Muslim ideas to an unambiguously Christian city, itself the point of embarkation for pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Published with the assistance of the Getty Grant Program

About this title

About the Author

Deborah Howard is reader in architectural history at the University of Cambridge and fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, England. She is chairman of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (1997-2000). Her books include Jacopo Sansovino: Architecture and Patronage in Renaissance Venice, published by Yale University Press.

From the Inside Flap

Precious spices and textiles, imported from distant trading posts in the eastern Mediterranean, stocked Venetian markets in the Middle Ages; but Venice's merchants imported more than material goods from the East-they acquired also a wealth of visual ideas and information from Muslim culture. This lively and richly illustrated book investigates the influence of oriental trade and travel on medieval Venice and its architecture. Architectural historian Deborah Howard examines the experiences of Venetian merchants overseas, focusing on links with Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, as well as with Persia and the Silk Route. She argues that many Venetians gained insight into Islamic culture through personal contacts with their Muslim trading partners. Based on wide-ranging multidisciplinary research, this book examines the mechanisms that governed the exchange of visual culture across ideological boundaries before the age of printing. Howard explores a range of building types that reflect the impact of Islamic imagery, paying special attention to two icon buildings, San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale. She considers the complexities of importing Muslim ideas to an unambiguously Christian city, itself the point of embarkation for pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300085044
• ISBN 13: 9780300085044
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 300