Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/733

* MOHAMMEDAN AKT. 635 MOHAMMEDAN ART. part of this leiiioii it succeeded Byzantine art, under the inliueiice of which it h)nf,' remained, while also inheriting local peculiarities of ear- lier Persian and Coptic (Kfivptian) art. The Arabs, founders and propajiators of Mohannne- danieni, possessed none of the arts (.see Ahaiuan Akt), and consequently a period of at least two centuries passed before the amalgamation of con- verted peoples, after tentative etForls to adapt preceding artistic forms, created the special types of Jlohannnedan art. This work was done especially in Syria, Persia, and Egypt, though North Africa and Spain also contributed their share. Byzantine, Persian, and Coptic art- ists, even if Cliristians. were employed at tirst; but finally all the branches were ])racticed by Mohammedans. The religious prejudice against the reproduction of the human figure in art pre- vented am- development in the large fields of fig- ured sculpture and painting, forcing the artist inti. decorative work in pure line and color, in which he became the most consummate master in the whole history of art. Surface ornamenta- tion became the keynote to thi,s art, whether dis- played on broad architectural surfaces or on the smallest article of furniture or decoration. This ornamentation, like the forms of architecture themselves, was at first derived from Byzantine models, as in the case of the mosques of Cor- dova, Damascus, Jerusalem, and the earliest Cairo work, with a large clement of stiff floral patterns, many of classic origin. But gradually the invasion of purely geometrical forms almost extinguished the flora, and the system was evolved and completed in the eleventh century, which is a combination of pure geometric and arabesque de- signs, used with ever-increasing profusion until all surfaces were covered with it. ARCHITECTURE. Commencing about a.d. 700, Mohammedan architecture runs parallel to the history of later Byzantine architecture in the East and Roman- esque and Gothic in the West. We must study the origins of this architectural style in the mosques (q.v. ). As the Mohammedans in the countries which they conquered foiuid them- Belves surrounded by nuignificent monuments of all the past civilizations of the East, it was natu- ral that they should turn to them for the typo of their mosques. The earliest mosque of any pre- tension was that of Amru (about a.d. f)41) at Fostat, which consecrated the Arab conquest of Egypt. It served as a type for two centuries. Its colonnades around an open court seem to combine the plan of the atrium of a Christian basilica and the hypostyle hall of an Eg^'ptian temple. The columns were taken from chinches and arranged in numerous rows, surmounted by low-stilted arches, on which rested a flat, wooden ceiling. There appears to have been no a'sthetic beauty and no decoration in this perfectly plain brick structure. It was in Syria, where the Om- miad caliphs had their capital at Damascus, that the first artistic monuments were erected under .hd al-Malak and his son .Al-Walid. about A.n. Too. They spent immense sums on three buildings which still remain: the Mosque of Damascus (70.5). reputed the most sU7uptuous monument of the Mohammedan world, and built to surpass the works of Christian architectiire in Syria; the Al-Aksa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock, com- monly called 'Mosque of Omar' (691), both in •Icrusalem, built to rival the Church of the Holy S-pulchre. The Al-Aksa was of a dillerent type from the Egyptian mosques, and more like a ball or a Christian church. The principal side of its i-ourt, called (lie Jami, containing liie Kiblah and pulpit (minibarl, luul a fcncst of 2S(t ccilunms in 20 rows, and in the centre, opposite the Kiblah, rose a dome. On the other hand, llie great Da- nuiseus mosque was of the Egj'ptian type of the Mo.sque of Aniru, the ty])e of the atrium, an<l luid only a triple line of columns on the Jdiiii (main hall) side, and a single row on the others. In Ixith mosques the columns now support pointed arches. The courts were filled with secondary mimuments, usually in the sha])e of domed chap- els or fountains. The most important of these is the Dome of the Rock in the court of the Al-Aksa Mo.sque. It followed the Byzan- tine domical type; its central dome, 112 feet high, is supported on four square piers with intermediate columns, and is surrounded by two concentric aisles with eight piers and si.teen col- umns, on an octagonal plan. It was erected in order to rival in splendor and sacredness the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The next important building in tlw Mohamme- dan world is the great mos(|ue at Cordova, the capital of the new Kingdom of Spain, f(nmded in 786. The main hall of this nu>sque was the largest known, measuring 534 X 387 feet, and containing 856 columns in 10 aisles. Its wooden ceiling, notwithstanding this great length, is 30 feet high. The intricate effect of the maze of columns is increased by there being no central nave as in Christian churches and by the unique arrangement of two stories of superposed horseshoe arclies. Here one sees the alternation of wliitc and black marbles, which later became so characteristic of the Italian Tus- can school, and an early form of stifl' f(diated arabesque in small separate compartments. The eighth century and the following witness a flow- ering of Mohammedan architecture in all prov- inces and in all classes of buildings: fountains, baths, aqueducts, palaces, khans, bridges, caravan- serais, minarets, mausoleums, monasteries and colleges, bazaars and city gates, hospitals, clois- ters. A large part of the ri'vcnues of the State was devoted to public works. Bagdail was built in 762 and became the capital of the caliphate. Great buildings were erected in the cities of North Africa, in Kairwan I nu).s(|ue in 837 ), Tunis ( mosque and arsenal in 742J. The wonderful buildings of Bagdad, so vividly described but now all de- stroyed, probably gave the keynote to the lunv art. The relief ornaments at Cordova were echoes from. Byzantium: so were the mosaics and marbles, as well as the domes of the nioniments of Damas- cus and .Terusalem. But gradually Persian pre- ponderance makes itself felt through the dynasty of the Abbassides with Bagdad as centre. The wooden roof is entirely abandoned for the dome. A purely Oriental sysi<'m of ornament is in- vented, both geometric and arabesqiie. The wall surfaces, which had hitherto been left plain or ornamented in By/antine fashion, are covered with intricate stuccoes and faience tiles, inherited from ancient Persia and Babylonia. Egypt. E,g'pt remained for a while outside of this movement, probably because its architecture was still in the hands of native Christian Copts; no domes were used and brick had not yet given place to stone. The most famous mosqie of this