DAVID TALBOT RICE ART ISLAMIC — ; ISLAMIC ART DAVID TALBOT RICE The delicate creations of the art of — Islam like the Islamic world itself have an extraordinary unity, yet they are infinitely diverse. Withthegeneral growth ofinterestin artofevery kind, — Islamic art no longer of fascination — to the specialist alone has come into its own. David Talbot Rice has satis- fied this new and burgeoning interest in his comprehensive general survey — of Islamic art the first of its kind in English. His work defines principal stylesinIslamicart, exploresthe meth- ods and mechanics of creation, and offers, in lavish illustration, some of Islam's finest and most colorful examples. The art of Islam is one of great character and beauty, and Professor Talbot Rice traces its development with insight and precision. Islamic craftsmen produced some ofthe finest pottery ever made—pottery that ranks inquahtywiththatofChinaandJapan they produced superb examples of metalwork and fine carvings in ivory. Their architecture, too, had great dis- tinction and had a great impact on the RomanesqueandGothicschoolsofthe West. Their textiles had a quality of design which the Florentines and Ve- netians werequicktocopy. Moreover, the miniatures of Mesopotamia and Persia are to be counted among the finest in the world. In this splendid book, Professor Talbot Rice has now — — opened up for all to enjoy vast, comparatively unknown realms of exquisite taste and delight. with colorplates 55 and 193 black andwhiteplates PRAEGER WORLD OF ART SERIES Islamic Art ,V~"f^rv 1 Frontispiece toamedical treatise, 'BookofAntidotes' ofPseudo-Galen,showing a central figure holding a crescent-shaped halo and surrounded by four other figures. Probablypaintedinnorthern Iraq, 1199 Art Islamic David Talhot Rice FREDERICK PRAEGER, A. Publishers NEW YORK WASHINGTON • ^n^^TON BOOKS THAT MATTER PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN 1965 BY FREDERICK A. PRAEGER, INC., PUBLISHERS III FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK N.Y. 3, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © THAMES AND HUDSON I965 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 65-IOI79 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY JARROLD AND SONS LTD, NORWICH Contents Page 7 Introduction 9 CHAPTER ONE Early Islamic Art 29 CHAPTER TWO The Abbasid Period 47 CHAPTER THREE Art in Persia until the Mongol Conquest CHAPTER FOUR 77 Spain, Egypt and North Africa until c. 1200 97 CHAPTER FIVE Mesopotamia: Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries 113 CHAPTER SIX Persia: The Mongol Period 129 CHAPTER SEVEN Syria and Egypt: Tv^elfth and Thirteenth Centuries 149 CHAPTER EIGHT Later Islamic Art in North Africa, Spain and Sicily 163 CHAPTER NINE The Seljuks ofRum Page 183 CHAPTER TEN The Ottoman Turks 211 CHAPTER ELEVEN Persian Art: the later Fourteenth and Early Fifteenth Centuries 237 CHAPTER TWELVE The Later Safavid Age 261 Bibhography 264 Table of Dates 266 Maps 269 List ofIllustrations 281 hidcx