Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/736

* MOHAMMEDAN ABT. 658 MOHAMMEDAN ART. human figure. The sclioul uf Danmseus was the iiHist famous centre at the time of the Crusades, giving its name to the entire process of dama- scening or inlaying. The Egyptian scliool, with its centre at Cairo, lUiurislied somewhat hvter, ' under the Mameluke rulers of the fourteenth cen- tury. The objects made wholly of gold and silver have almost entirely disappeared, but the inven- tories of the palace of the rulers of Bagdad and Cairo prove the e.xistence of many thousands of such objects — vases, boxes, mirrors, stands, lamps, trays, coti'ers, figures of birds and ani- mals, dishes, cups, llagons, bowls. Of the.se classes , man}' objects still remain in the baser metals, either plain or dama.scened: particularly interest- ing are the hanging lami)»i. lanterns, and chande- liers, the stands and tables, mo.sque doors, per- fume-burners, ewers, bo.es (especially writing boxes), trays, and bowls, it is in the magnificent arms and armor that the metal-workers showed the suprcmest mastery, using all the processes, chiseling, damascening, enameling, jewel-setting to produce the master])ieces in the shape of pon- iards, swords, and yataghans, helmets, breast- plates, and lances, stirrups, bits, and the rest of the military e(|ui|)ment and caparison, including, in later times, nuiskets, pistols, and halberds. In this special field the school of Syria (Damas- cus) reigned supreme, manufacturing the best pieces for the entire Mohanunedan world. The Persian style was more iirnalc. standing midway between Syrian simplicity and Indian gorgeous- ness. See Indian .Art, Gla.ss. It is in Kgpt that stained-glass win- dows were made, rivaling on a small scale the cathedral windows of the (Jothic period. Here, as in every other branch, there is originality of methods. 'ITie windows are small, forming usually an oblong of less than two by three feet. The frame is of wood and the process consists of pouring a bed of plaster into this frame, letting it set. and then cutting out the design, leaving only narrow rims or bands of plaster to hold the glass. The design is extremely elaborate, with a central motif, usmilly of flowers, plants, and trees: the bits of stained glass cut to fit over the i)|ienings are laid on anil fastened with fresh plaster. The openings arc often slanting toward the street and the jilastcr artistically linislied on the outside. The eileit on the inside is similar to mosaic. The commoMcst designs are: pinks, and (ither flowers growing from a vase; cypress with entwined flower-stem: scroll of flow^ers and leaves: kiosk between buds or cypresses; one or two cypresses with flowers. Earlier than these are the more purely geometric designs, as in the tomb of Hibars at Cairo. Of course the plaster is far nu)re fragile than lead as a frame, and the windows easily disintegrate ami cannot be made large. Such windows (called kiimiirhif) are found not merely in mosipies. but in tbi' iiirxhrn- hii/ih or latticed projecting windows of private houses. In harmony and quiet depth of color they surpass their more colossal fiothic counter- parts. . dilTerent kind of artistic glass is exemplified in (he mosque lamps of enameled and painted glass. It is true that there is a great quantity of exquisite glass, both white and c(dore(l, show- ing in Persia: Syria and Kg>'pt still carried on in the Middle .ges the old Kgyptian and Pbienician industry, with exquisite understanding of forms and tones, furnishing models to Veniee: hut it is in the mosipic lamps that the glass-workers cer- tainly enter the domain of line art. Here the cidors are enameled on a gilt ground and the de- signs aje similar to those of metal work, with greater prominence given to inscriptions; cobalt, red, pale green, and white are the principal eiuimels and the decoration is in bands with medallions. The most beautiful examples are winks of the fourteenth century from the mosques (if Cairo. The mellow light shining through the emuuels and glass of these suspended lamps was of an exquisite ell'ect, Ii.iA'.MiXATiON OF Mani scRii'is. The aversion to the representation of the human figure hin- dered the development of the art of illumination — a branch of art not cidtivated extensively until the later Middle Ages. It is true that fig- nreil compositions were not unknown either to the Egyptian or the Syrian artists, but it was the Persian school, under Tatar and Mongol in- lluences, which first boldly attcni|ited scenes of daily life and of history. Tlicre an- many manu- scri|)ts of the Koran belonging to the other schools, whose first and last pages are a mass of geometric and floral ornament. The finest col- lection of Egyptian manuscrii)ts, executed main- ly for the sultans of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is that of the Cairo Museum rescued from the mosques, such as those of Sultans Ka- laun, Shaban, and liarkuk. Sometimes the flow- ers, arabesques, and polygons are in colors on a gold groiuul. sometimes in gold on a ground of plain l>Uic ur red (U- of shaded and grouped colors. The (incst of these illuminated pages surpass any- thing done by Christian artists in richness, in exquisite coloring, and in fineness of execution. They are executed not on velliuii, but on fine I'.gyptian cream-colored or reddish paper. The Syrian and Persian schools avoided the geo- metric ornamentation, and their floral designs were freer and iikiic naturalistic. The Persian loudness for legend and poetry shows itself in the rich illumination of jiocms and stories which gave occasion for charming genre scenes and vi- gnettes, and the artist's fancy sprinkled animals
 * uid birds in riototis confusion in a backgroimd

of beautiful garden scenes. It is in these figured illuminations alone that wo can study the style of the fresco-painters of "Mohannnedanisni, whose works have disapi)eared. It is plain from native writers that the caliphs of Bagdad, the rulers of Egypt and Spain, at <lif- ferent times lavishly patronized figure jiainters and that such works were not confined to the Persian school. It is interesting to note the similarity tx'twei'n Persian and Chinese painted design and to make the Mongols the intermedia- ries between the two schools. The primitive c(m- ception of composition and figure and the awk- ward conventionalities itiake the Persian school, though successful in coloring, less successful in its sphere than the |)urely decorative Egyptian. The most famous Persian illutninators belong to the sixteenth century, sucdi as Fabrizi, .Tehangir, liukhari, an<l Behzada, The latter's works are masterly in composition and correspond to the Italian Oiottescpie masters. The last great mas- ter was Mari, a naturalist from India. Tkxtii.k FAnitics. T'he Ear East had always been famous for its artistic stufTs. embroideries, tapestrii's, rugs. It was as successors to the arta of Persia and Babylon that the Mohammedans de- veloped this branch, though Bagdad, Damascus,