Design and Color in Islamic Architecture: Eight Centuries of the Tile-Maker's Art - Hardcover

Michaud, Roland; Barry, Michael; Michaud, Sabrina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865659753 ISBN 13: 9780865659759

Publisher: Vendome Pr, 1996

Synopsis

This highly unusual book gathers together the largest collection of photographs ever published of the astonishing tiled domes, minarets and walls of Islamic Asia.
Michael Barry's text draws on a wealth of historical, technical and iconographic information to illuminate the history and meaning of these remarkable decorations. He traces the history of Islamic architectural tiles from their first major appearance at the end of the twelfth century as a means of protection from the weather, through their apogee in the fifteenth century which saw them perhaps at their most ornate, right up to the present day when Herat's tilemasters still perpetuate the finest medieval traditions.
Beginning with a highly evocative traveller's impression of modern Afghanistan, the text combines profound historical knowledge with insight into the technical innovations that shaped the course of tile decoration in medieval Islam. In addition, in order to explore the symbolism behind the seven colors Michael Barry turns to one of the greatest medieval Persian-language poets, Nezami of Ganjeh, and his verse romance The Brides of the Seven Climes. He translates this series of tales, which are as charming and gripping as any in the Thousand and One Nights, and in his commentary provides a fascinating glimpse of the philosophical, literary and religious context for Nezami's work.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Barry is a Research Fellow at the Ecole des hautes Etudes en Sciences sociales in Paris.

Reviews

A pristine 12th-century minaret hidden in Afghanistan's mountains for centuries and discovered only in 1957; a sky-blue mausoleum in Samarkand, built for Timur's niece in 1371; spectacular tiles from Istanbul's Topkapi Palace; intricately decorated medieval Iranian shrines erected under Islamized Mongol rulers?these are some of the exotic sites explored by the Michauds in their leisurely photo-essay stretching from Central Asia to Pakistan. Their odyssey, splendidly illustrated with 158 color photos, is organized around an unusual framework: their eloquent, free-form translation of Azerbaijani poet Nezami of Ganjeh's Persian verse romance The Brides of the Seven Climes, written in 1197, a Scheherazade-like saga that purports to unlock the sacred cosmic symbolism of the seven colors used by medieval Persian ceramists on their walls and domes. An informative essay by Barry, a Parisian scholar specializing in medieval Islamic civilization, encompasses glazed brickwork architecture ranging from 4th-century B.C. Macedonian mosaics to Moghul forts and palaces in India.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Vendome Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865659753
• ISBN 13: 9780865659759
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 315