INTRODUCTION

The British ban on the international slave trade and the development of Arab-Swahili
caravan routes from eastern Africa shifts the trade in slaves to the east. In western
Central Africa, heightened demand for local African products such as ivory, wax, and
rubber allows previously subjugated or isolated peoples such as the Chokwe to rise to
economic prominence and displace traditional powers such as the far-flung Lunda and
Luba states. Further east, the Arab-Swahili trade also deprives these polities of the
trade on which they are dependent. The emergence of numerous small-scale chiefdoms
results in the production of new forms of ornate and luxurious courtly arts across Central
Africa. Elsewhere, extended periods of migration in present-day Gabon and political
consolidation in modern Cameroon lead to the development of new forms of funerary
and courtly art. The European partition of Africa in 1884 provides state support for
German, Belgian, English, and Portuguese expeditions into Central Africa that supply
newly created ethnographic museums and geographic societies with specimens of
material culture from the region.

African art and the effects of European contact and colonization

1
Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Iyoba), 16th century, Edo peoples, Court of Benin,
Nigeria, ivory, iron, copper, 23.8 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Early encounters with Europeans were often recorded in African Art. The faces at
the top of the mask above represents Portuguese explorers with beards and hats
flanked by mudfish (detail), Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Iyoba), 16th century,
Edo peoples, Court of Benin, Nigeria, ivory, iron, copper, 23.8 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Early encounters with Europeans were often recorded in African art. Look closely
at the top of the mask above (and detail, left). Do you see faces? These represent
Portuguese explorers with beards and hats (flanked by mudfish) who visited the
Benin Kingdom along the west coast of Africa in the late 1400s. These explorers
began to collect ivory which they referred to as “white gold.”

Saltcellars like the one below, commissioned by Portuguese officers and

exquisitely produced by West African carvers, held precious table salt. They would
have been taken back to Portugal to be displayed in curiosity cabinets. Today their
carvings serve as a record of the introduction of guns, Christianity, and European
commodities to West Africa.

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By the 1880s European powers were interested in Africa’s resources, particularly
mineral wealth and forests. Today, Africa is divided into 53 independent countries
but many scholars argue that the boundaries that separate these countries are really
artificial. They were drawn by Europeans at the Berlin Conference in 1884-85
without a single African present. They did not divide the continent by cultural or
tribal region, but instead created borders based on their own interests. The
problems this created—separating families, language groups, trading partners,
pastoralists from watering holes, etc.—are still very much at issue today.

Lidded Saltcellar, Sierra Leone, Sapi-Portugese, 15th-16th century, ivory, 29.8 cm high
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

3
Movements in African History and Art

African cultures never existed in isolation—there was always movement, trade,

and the exchange of ideas. And logically African art is dynamic and has changed in
form, function, and meaning over time. Nevertheless, in the Western art market
and in academia, there exists the concept of “traditional” African art. Usually this
refers to “indigenous art traditions that were viable and active prior to the
colonization of Africa by European powers in the late nineteenth century. Implicit
in the use of the word traditional is the assumption that the art which it describes is
static and unchanging.” Many collectors and museum professionals place far
greater value on African objects created prior to colonization. For them, pre-
colonial objects have an aura of an untainted, timeless past when artists only made
artworks for their own communities unaffected by the outside world. These objects
are too often seen in opposition to work produced today using Western materials
and conventions by artists who are engaged in a global discourse and who make
works of art to be sold.

4
Lidded Saltcellar (detail), Sierra Leone, Sapi-Portugese, 15th-16th century, ivory,
29.8 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

In reality, some African art has always functioned as a commodity and artists have
always drawn inspiration and materials from outside sources. While many auction
houses and art museums clearly differentiate between “traditional” African art
created prior to the colonial period and artwork created during and after
colonization, African art historians are beginning to dispel this simplistic division
and instead, ask their audiences to recognize the continuity and dynamism of
African art. Looking closer, scholars find that specific historical moments had a
profound affect on African communities and their art. During the slave trade and
colonization, for example, some artists created work to come to terms with these
horrific events—experiences that often stripped people of their cultural, religious
and political identities.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

One of the most damaging experiences for many ethnic groups in Africa was
the transatlantic slave trade. While slavery had long existed in Africa, the
transatlantic slave trade constituted a mass movement of peoples over four and a
half centuries to colonies in North and South America. Ten million people were
taken to labor on cotton, rum, and sugar plantations in the new world. Slavery
coupled with the colonial experience had a profound effect on Africa and still
causes strife. For example, Ghana has over 80 ethnic groups and during slave raids,
different groups were pitted against one another—those living near the coast were
involved in slave raiding in the interior in exchange for Portuguese and Dutch
guns. Territorial disputes, poverty, famine, corruption, and disease increased as a
result of the brutality of the slave trade and European colonization.
5
The Colonial Period

With the collapse of the Atlantic slave trade in the 19th century, European
imperialism continued to focus on Africa as a source for raw materials and markets
for the goods produced by industrialized nations. Africa was partitioned by the
European powers during the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, a meeting where not a
single African was present. The result was a continent defined by artificial borders
with little concern for existing ethnic, linguistic, or geographic realities.

Colonial Africa in 1913

European nations claimed land in order to secure access to the natural resources

they needed to support rapidly growing industrial economies. Once European

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nations secured African territories, they embarked on a system of governance
that enforced the provision of natural resources— with dire consequences for
people and the environment.

Resistance to colonial rule grew steadily and between 1950 and 1980, 47 nations
achieved independence; but even with independence the problems associated with
the slave trade and colonialism remained. The introduction of Christianity and the
spread of Islam in the 19th and 20th century also transformed many African
societies and many traditional art practices associated with indigenous religions
declined. In addition, as imported manufactured goods entered local economies,
hand-made objects like ceramic vessels and fiber baskets were replaced by factory-
made containers. Nevertheless, one way people made sense of these changes was
through art and performance. Art plays a central role, particularly in oral societies,
as a way to remember and heal. As African artists began catering to a new market
of middle-class urban Africans and foreigners, new art-making practices
developed. Self-taught and academically trained painters, for example, began
depicting their experiences with colonialism and independence; as fine artists, their
work is largely secular in content and meant to be displayed in galleries or modern
homes (for example, see the work of Cheri Samba, Jane Alexander,
and Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu).

Globalization Today

The diverse and complex systems now at play as a result of globalization are
having a profound impact on Africa. Some scholars argue that globalization will
have even greater consequences than the slave trade and colonization in terms of
population movement, environmental impact, and economic, social and political
changes. Whatever the result, these stresses will be chronicled by the continent’s
many brilliant artists.

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Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced
since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled
by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide range
of lands, periods, and genres, Islamic art is a concept used first by Western art
historians since the late 19th century Public Islamic art is traditionally non-
representational, except for the widespread use of plant forms, usually in varieties
of the spiralling arabesque. These are often combined with Islamic
calligraphy, geometric patterns in styles that are typically found in a wide variety
of media, from small objects in ceramic or metalwork to large decorative schemes
in tiling on the outside and inside of large buildings, including mosques. Other
forms of Islamic art include Islamic miniature painting, artefacts like Islamic
glass or pottery, and textile arts, such as carpets and embroidery.

The early developments of Islamic art were influenced by Roman art, Early

Christian art (particularly Byzantine art), and Sassanian art, with later influences
from Central Asian nomadic traditions. Chinese art had a significant influence on
Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles. From its beginnings, Islamic art has been
based on the written version of the Quran and other seminal religious works, which
is reflected by the important role of calligraphy, representing the word as the
medium of divine revelation. Religious Islamic art has been typically characterized
by the absence of figures and extensive use of calligraphic, geometric and abstract
floral patterns. In secular art of the Muslim world, representations of human and
animal forms historically flourished in nearly all Islamic cultures, although, partly
because of opposing religious sentiments, living beings in paintings were often
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stylized, giving rise to a variety of decorative figural designs. Both religious
and secular art objects often exhibit the same references, styles and forms. These
include calligraphy, architecture, textiles and furnishings, such as carpets and
woodwork. Secular arts and crafts include the production of textiles, such as
clothing, carpets or tents, as well as household objects, made from metal, wood or
other materials. Further, figurative miniature paintings have a rich tradition,
especially in Persian, Mughal and Ottoman painting. These pictures were often
meant to illustrate well-known historical or poetic stories. Some interpretations of
Islam, however, include a ban of depiction of animate beings, also known as
aniconism. Islamic aniconism stems in part from the prohibition of idolatry and in
part from the belief that creation of living forms is God's prerogative.

Terminology

Although the concept of "Islamic art" has been put into question by some modern
art historians as a construct of Western cultural views, the similarities between art
produced at widely different times and places in the Muslim world, especially in
the Islamic Golden Age, have been sufficient to keep the term in wide use as a
useful classification since the late 19th century. Scholars such as Jacelyn K. Kerner
have drawn attention to its wide-ranging scope referring to more than 40 nations
and to the growing public interest both in Western as well as, more recently, in
Muslim societies. Further, the List of Islamic museums bears witness to this art
historical term having found wide acceptance.

The Encyclopædia Britannica defines "Islamic arts" as including visual arts,

literature, performing arts and music that "virtually defies any comprehensive
definition". In a strict sense, the term might only refer to artistic manifestations that
are closely related to religious practice. Most often, however, it is meant to include

9
"all of the arts produced by Muslim peoples, whether connected with their religion
or not."

CalligraphyMain article: Islamic calligraphy

Tiles with some calligraphy in the courtyard of the Süleymaniye

Mosque in Istanbul (Turkey)

Calligraphic design is omnipresent in Islamic art, where, as in Europe in

the Middle Ages, religious exhortations, including Qur'anic verses, may be
included in secular objects, especially coins, tiles and metalwork, and most painted
miniatures include some script, as do many buildings. Use of Islamic calligraphy in
architecture extended significantly outside of Islamic territories; one notable
example is the use of Chinese calligraphy of Arabic verses from the Qur'an in
the Great Mosque of Xi'an. Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and
inscriptions recording ownership or donation. Two of the main scripts involved are
the symbolic kufic and naskh scripts, which can be found adorning and enhancing
the visual appeal of the walls and domes of buildings, the sides of minbars, and
metalwork. Islamic calligraphy in the form of painting or sculptures is sometimes
referred to as Quranic art.

The various forms of traditional Arabic calligraphy and decoration of the

manuscripts used for written versions of the Quran represent a central tradition of
Islamic visual art. The arabesque is often used to symbolize the transcendent,
indivisible and infinite nature of God. Mistakes in repetitions may be intentionally

10
introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce
perfection, although this theory has also been disputed. East Persian pottery from
the 9th to 11th centuries, decorated only with highly stylised inscriptions and
called "epigraphic ware", has been described as "probably the most refined and
sensitive of all Persian pottery".Large inscriptions made from tiles, sometimes with
the letters raised in relief, or the background cut away, are found on the interiors
and exteriors of many important buildings. Complex carved calligraphy also
decorates buildings. For most of the Islamic period the majority of coins only
showed lettering, which are often very elegant despite their small size and nature
of production. The tughra or monogram of an Ottoman sultan was used extensively
on official documents, with very elaborate decoration for important ones. Other
single sheets of calligraphy, designed for albums, might contain short poems,
Qur'anic verses, or other texts.

The main languages, all using Arabic script, are Arabic, always used for Qur'anic
verses, Persian in the Persianate world, especially for poetry, and Turkish,
with Urdu appearing in later centuries. Calligraphers usually had a higher status
than other artists.

Painting

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Scene from the Khamsa of Nizami, Persian, 1539–43

Although there has been a tradition of wall-paintings, especially in

the Persianate world, the best-surviving and highest developed form of painting in
the Islamic world is the miniature in illuminated manuscripts, or later as a single
page for inclusion in a muraqqa or bound album of miniatures and calligraphy.
The tradition of the Persian miniature has been dominant since about the 13th
century, strongly influencing the Ottoman miniature of Turkey and the Mughal
miniature in India. Miniatures were especially an art of the court, and because they
were not seen in public, it has been argued that constraints on the depiction of the
human figure were much more relaxed, and indeed miniatures often contain great
numbers of small figures, and from the 16th century portraits of single ones.
Although surviving early examples are now uncommon, human figurative art was
a continuous tradition in Islamic lands in secular contexts, notably several of
the Umayyad Desert Castles (c. 660-750), and during the Abbasid Caliphate (c.
749–1258). The largest commissions of illustrated books were usually classics
of Persian poetry such as the epic Shahnameh, although
the Mughals and Ottomans both produced lavish manuscripts of more recent

12
history with the autobiographies of the Mughal emperors, and more purely military
chronicles of Turkish conquests. Portraits of rulers developed in the 16th century,
and later in Persia, then becoming very popular. Mughal portraits, normally in
profile, are very finely drawn in a realist style, while the best Ottoman ones are
vigorously stylized. Album miniatures typically featured picnic scenes, portraits of
individuals or (in India especially) animals, or idealized youthful beauties of either
sex.

Chinese influences included the early adoption of the vertical format natural to a
book, which led to the development of a birds-eye view where a very carefully
depicted background of hilly landscape or palace buildings rises up to leave only a
small area of sky. The figures are arranged in different planes on the background,
with recession (distance from the viewer) indicated by placing more distant figures
higher up in the space, but at essentially the same size. The colours, which are
often very well preserved, are strongly contrasting, bright and clear. The tradition
reached a climax in the 16th and early 17th centuries, but continued until the early
19th century, and has been revived in the 20th.

Rugs and carpets

From the yarn fiber to the colors, every part of the Persian rug is traditionally
handmade from natural ingredients over the course of many months

13
No Islamic artistic product has become better known outside the Islamic world
than the pile carpet, more commonly referred to as the Oriental carpet (Oriental
rug). Their versatility is utilized in everyday Islamic and Muslim life, from floor
coverings to architectural enrichment, from cushions to bolsters to bags and sacks
of all shapes and sizes, and to religious objects (such as a prayer rug, which would
provide a clean place to pray). They have been a major export to other areas since
the late middle Ages, used to cover not only floors but tables, for long a
widespread European practice that is now common only in the Netherlands. Carpet
weaving is a rich and deeply embedded tradition in Islamic societies, and the
practice is seen in large city factories as well as in rural communities and nomadic
encampments. In earlier periods, special establishments and workshops were in

existence that functioned directly under court patronage.

Turkish Ushak Carpet

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Very early Islamic carpets, i.e. those before the 16th century, are extremely rare.
More have survived in the West and oriental carpets in Renaissance painting from
Europe are a major source of information on them, as they were valuable imports
that were painted accurately. The most natural and easy designs for a carpet
weaver to produce consist of straight lines and edges, and the earliest Islamic
carpets to survive or be shown in paintings have geometric designs, or centre on
very stylized animals, made up in this way. Since the flowing loops and curves of
the arabesque are central to Islamic art, the interaction and tension between these
two styles was long a major feature of carpet design.

Architecture

Great Mosque of Damascus, 709-715 AD, Syria, constructed by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I

15
Indian Islamic Arches as seen in the Buland Darvaza in Fatehpur Sikri built in the 16th Century

Columns Early Islamic columns followed the style seen in the classic period of the
Mediterranean. Classic columns can be seen in earlier mosques such as the Great
Mosque of Damascus and Córdoba. These columns can vary in form from being
completely smooth, and having vertical or twisting fluting. In the 7th and 8th
century, the Mosque of the Prophet Medina, was rebuilt using a style known as
hypostyle. Hypostyle mosques usually entail multiple columns that support a
smooth and even wall. In India, traditionally Indian stone columns of different
shapes such a circles, squares and octagons, were incorporated into some
mosques Finally, engaged columns were introduced into decorate Islamic
buildings.

Arches Islamic arches, similar to columns, followed a style similar to Roman

architecture. Arches became quite prominent to Islamic architecture during the 8th-
10th centuries. There are three distinct shapes of Islamic arches which include
horseshoe, keel, and polylobuled. However, in ancient India, Islamic arches take
shape after being pointed, lobed, or ogee.

Ceramics

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10th-century dish from East Persia

Islamic art has very notable achievements in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for

walls, which in the absence of wall-paintings were taken to heights unmatched by
other cultures. Early pottery is often unglazed, but tin-opacified glazing was one of
the earliest new technologies developed by the Islamic potters. The first Islamic
opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th
century. Another significant contribution was the development of stone paste
ceramics, originating from 9th century Iraq The first industrial complex
for glass and pottery production was built in Raqqa, Syria, in the 8th century Other
centers for innovative pottery in the Islamic world included Fustat (from 975 to
1075), Damascus (from 1100 to around 1600) and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550).
Lusterwares with iridescent colours may have continued pre-Islamic Roman and
Byzantine techniques, but were either invented or considerably developed on
pottery and glass in Persia and Syria from the 9th century onwards. Islamic pottery
was often influenced by Chinese ceramics, whose achievements were greatly
admired and emulated. This was especially the case in the periods after the Mongol
invasions and those of the Timurids. Techniques, shapes and decorative motifs
were all affected. Until the Early Modern period Western ceramics had very little
influence, but Islamic pottery was very sought after in Europe, and often copied.
An example of this is the albarello, a type of maiolica earthenware jar originally

17
designed to hold apothecaries' ointments and dry drugs. The development of this
type of pharmacy jar had its roots in the Islamic Middle East. Hispano-
Moresque examples were exported to Italy, stimulating the earliest Italian
examples, from 15th century Florence.

Iznik glazed pottery ca. 1575

The Hispano-Moresque style emerged in Al-Andaluz or Muslim Spain in the 8th

century, under Egyptian influence, but most of the best production was much later,
by potters presumed to have been largely Muslim but working in areas
reconquered by the Christian kingdoms. It mixed Islamic and European elements
in its designs, and much was exported across neighbouring European countries. It
had introduced two ceramic techniques to Europe: glazing with
an opaque white tin-glaze, and painting in metallic lusters. Ottoman İznik
pottery produced most of the best work in the 16th century, in tiles and large
vessels boldly decorated with floral motifs influenced, once again, by Chinese
Yuan and Ming ceramics. These were still in earthenware; there was no porcelain
made in Islamic countries until modern times, though Chinese porcelain was
imported and admired the medieval Islamic world also had pottery with painted
animal and human imagery. Examples are found throughout the medieval Islamic
world, particularly in Persia and Egypt.

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Tiling

Further information: Islamic geometric patterns and Tessellation

Tiled exterior of the Friday Mosque of Herat, Afghanistan

The earliest grand Islamic buildings, like the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem had
interior walls decorated with mosaics in the Byzantine style, but without human
figures. From the 9th century onwards the distinctive Islamic tradition of glazed
and brightly coloured tiling for interior and exterior walls and domes developed.
Some earlier schemes create designs using mixtures of tiles each of a single colour
that are either cut to shape or are small and of a few shapes, used to create abstract
geometric patterns. Later large painted schemes use tiles painted before firing with
a part of the scheme – a technique requiring confidence in the consistent results of
firing.

Some elements, especially the letters of inscriptions, may be moulded in three-

dimensional relief, and in especially in Persia certain tiles in a design may have
figurative painting of animals or single human figures. These were often part of
designs mostly made up of tiles in plain colours, but with larger fully painted tiles
at intervals. The larger tiles are often shaped as eight-pointed stars, and may show
animals or a human head or bust, or plant or other motifs. The geometric patterns,
such as modern North African zellige work, made of small tiles each of a single

19
colour but different and regular shapes, are often referred to as "mosaic", which is
not strictly correct.

The Mughals made much less use of tiling, preferring (and being able to afford)
"parchin kari", a type of pietra dura decoration from inlaid panels of semi-precious
stones, with jewels in some cases. This can be seen at the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and
other imperial commissions. The motifs are usually floral, in a simpler and more
realistic style than Persian or Turkish work, relating to plants in Mughal
miniatures.

Glass

Main article: Islamic glass

"The Luck of Edenhall", a 13th-century Syrian beaker, in England since the Middle

Ages

For most of the Middle Ages Islamic glass was the most sophisticated in Eurasia,
exported to both Europe and China. Islam took over much of the traditional glass-
producing territory of Sassanian and Ancient Roman glass, and since figurative
decoration played a small part in pre-Islamic glass, the change in style is not
abrupt, except that the whole area initially formed a political whole, and, for

20
example, Persian innovations were now almost immediately taken up in Egypt. For
this reason it is often impossible to distinguish between the various centres of
production, of which Egypt, Syria and Persia were the most important, except by
scientific analysis of the material, which itself has difficulties. From various
documentary references glassmaking and glass trading seems to have been a
speciality of the Jewish minority in several centres.

Mamluk mosque lamp

Between the 8th and early 11th centuries the emphasis in luxury glass is on effects
achieved by "manipulating the surface" of the glass, initially by incising into the
glass on a wheel, and later by cutting away the background to leave a design in
relief.[37] The very massive Hedwig glasses, only found in Europe, but normally
considered Islamic (or possibly from Muslim craftsmen in Norman Sicily), are an
example of this, though puzzlingly late in date.[38] These and other glass pieces
probably represented cheaper versions of vessels of carved rock
crystal (clear quartz), themselves influenced by earlier glass vessels, [39] and there is
some evidence that at this period glass cutting and hardstone carving were
regarded as the same craft.[40] From the 12th century the industry in Persia
and Mesopotamia appears to decline, and the main production of luxury glass

21
shifts to Egypt and Syria, and decorative effects of colour on smooth surfaced
glass.[41] Throughout the period local centres made simpler wares such as Hebron
glass in Palestine.

Lustre painting, by techniques similar to lustreware in pottery, dates back to the 8th
century in Egypt, and became widespread in the 12th century. Another technique
was decoration with threads of glass of a different colour, worked into the main
surface, and sometimes manipulated by combing and other effects. Gilded, painted
and enamelled glass were added to the repertoire, and shapes and motifs borrowed
from other media, such as pottery and metalwork. Some of the finest work was
in mosque lamps donated by a ruler or wealthy man. As decoration grew more
elaborate, the quality of the basic glass decreased, and it "often has a brownish-
yellow tinge, and is rarely free from bubbles". Aleppo seems to have ceased to be a
major centre after the Mongol invasion of 1260, and Timur appears to have ended
the Syrian industry about 1400 by carrying off the skilled workers to Samarkand.
By about 1500 the Venetians were receiving large orders for mosque lamps.

Metalwork

Detail of the "Baptistère de Saint Louis," c. 1300, a Mamluk basin of engraved

brass with gold, silver and niello inlay

Medieval Islamic metalwork offers a complete contrast to its European equivalent,

which is dominated by modelled figures and brightly coloured decoration

22
in enamel, some pieces entirely in precious metals. In contrast surviving Islamic
metalwork consists of practical objects mostly in brass, bronze, and steel, with
simple, but often monumental shapes, and surfaces highly decorated with dense
decoration in a variety of techniques, but colour mostly restricted to inlays of gold,
silver, copper or black niello. The most abundant survivals from medieval periods
are fine brass objects, handsome enough to preserve, but not valuable enough to be
melted down. The abundant local sources of zinc, compared to tin, explains the
rarity of bronze. Household items, such as ewers or water pitchers, were made of
one or more pieces of sheet brass, soldered together and subsequently worked and
inlaid

The use of drinking and eating vessels in gold and silver, the ideal in ancient Rome
and Persia as well as medieval Christian societies, is prohibited by the Hadiths, as
was the wearing of gold rings. Islamic metalworkers shared with their European
counterparts a relatively high social status, compared to other artists and craftsmen,
and many larger pieces are signed.

Islamic metalwork includes some three-dimensional animal figures, such as

fountainheads or aquamaniles, but only one significant enamelled object of
Byzantine cloisonne technique is known. The Pisa Griffin is the largest surviving
bronze animal, probably from 11th century al-Andaluz. More common objects
with elaborate decoration include massive low candlesticks and lamp-stands,
lantern lights, bowls, dishes, basins, buckets (these probably for the bath),
and ewers, as well as caskets, pen-cases and plaques. Ewers and basins were
brought for hand-washing before and after each meal, and so are often lavishly
treated display pieces. A typical 13th century ewer from Khorasan is decorated
with foliage, animals and the Signs of the Zodiac in silver and copper, and carries a
blessing. Specialized objects include knives, arms and armour (always of high

23
interest to the elite) and scientific instruments such as astrolabes, as well
as jewellery. Decoration is typically densely packed and very often includes
arabesques and calligraphy, sometimes naming an owner and giving a date.

Other applied arts

Mughal dagger with hilt in jade, gold, rubies and emeralds. Blade

of damascened steel inlaid with gold.

High levels of achievement were reached in other materials, including hardstone

carvings and jewellery, ivory carving, textiles and leatherwork. During the Middle
Ages, Islamic work in these fields was highly valued in other parts of the world
and often traded outside the Islamic zone. Apart from miniature painting and
calligraphy, other arts of the book are decorative illumination, the only type found
in Qur'an manuscripts, and Islamic book covers, which are often highly decorative
in luxury manuscripts, using either the geometric motifs found in illumination, or
sometimes figurative images probably drawn for the craftsmen by miniature
painters. Materials include coloured, tooled and stamped leather and lacquer over
paint.

Precious stones

24
Egyptian carving of rock crystal into vessels appears in the late 10th century, and
virtually disappears after about 1040. There are a number of these vessels in the
West, which apparently came on the market after the Cairo palace of
the Fatimid Caliph was looted by his mercenaries in 1062, and were snapped up by
European buyers, mostly ending up in church treasuries. From later periods,
especially the hugely wealthy Ottoman and Mughal courts, there are a considerable
number of lavish objects carved in semi-precious stones, with little surface
decoration, but inset with jewels. Such objects may have been made in earlier
periods, but few have survived.

Ottoman marquetry and tile-top table, about 1560

House and furniture

Older wood carving is typically relief or pierced work on flat objects for
architectural use, such as screens, doors, roofs, beams and friezes. An important
exception are the complex muqarnas and mocárabe designs giving roofs and other
architectural elements a stalactite-like appearance. These are often in wood,
sometimes painted on the wood, but often plastered over before painting; the
examples at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain are among the best known.
Traditional Islamic furniture, except for chests, tended to be covered with
cushions, with cupboards rather than cabinets for storage, but there are some
pieces, including a low round (strictly twelve-sided) table of about 1560 from the
Ottoman court, with marquetry inlays in light wood, and a single huge ceramic tile
25
or plaque on the tabletop. The fine inlays typical of Ottoman court furniture may
have developed from styles and techniques used in weapons and musical
instruments, for which the finest craftsmanship available was used. There are also
intricately decorated caskets and chests from various periods. A spectacular and
famous (and far from flat) roof was one of the Islamic components of the 12th
century Norman Cappella Palatina in Palermo, which picked from the finest
elements of Catholic, Byzantine and Islamic art. Other famous wooden roofs are in
the Alhambra in Granada.

Ivory with traces of paint, 11th–12th century, Egypt

Ivory

Ivory carving centred on the Mediterranean, spreading from Egypt, where a

thriving Coptic industry had been inherited; Persian ivory is rare. The normal style
was a deep relief with an even surface; some pieces were painted. Spain
specialized in caskets and round boxes, which were probably used to keep jewels
and perfumes. They were produced mainly in the approximate period 930–1050,
and widely exported. Many pieces are signed and dated, and on court pieces the
name of the owner is often inscribed; they were typically gifts from a ruler. As
well as a court workshop, Cordoba had commercial workshops producing goods of
slightly lower quality. In the 12th and 13th century workshops in Norman
Sicily produced caskets, apparently then migrating to Granada and elsewhere after
persecution. Egyptian work tended to be in flat panels and friezes, for insertion into
woodwork and probably furniture – most are now detached from their settings.
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Many were calligraphic, and others continued Byzantine traditions of hunting
scenes, with backgrounds of arabesques and foliage in both cases.

Ilkhanid piece in silk, cotton and gold, Iran or Iraq, early 14th century

Silk

Despite Hadithic sayings against the wearing of silk, the Byzantine and Sassanian

traditions of grand figured silk woven cloth continued under Islam. Some designs
are calligraphic, especially when made for palls to cover a tomb, but more are
surprisingly conservative versions of the earlier traditions, with many large figures
of animals, especially majestic symbols of power like the lion and eagle. These are
often enclosed in roundels, as found in the pre-Islamic traditions. The majority of
early silks have been recovered from tombs, and in Europe reliquaries, where the
relics were often wrapped in silk. European clergy and nobility were keen buyers
of Islamic silk from an early date and, for example, the body of an early bishop
of Toul in France was wrapped in a silk from the Bukhara area in
modern Uzbekistan, probably when the body was reburied in 820.

The Shroud of St Josse is a famous samite cloth from East Persia, which originally

had a carpet-like design with two pairs of confronted elephants, surrounded by

27
borders including rows of camels and an inscription in Kufic script, from which the
date appears to be before 961. Other silks were used for clothes, hangings,
altarcloths, and church vestments, which have nearly all been lost, except for some
vestments.

Javanese court batik

Ottoman silks were less exported, and the many surviving royal kaftans have
simpler geometric patterns, many featuring stylized "tiger-stripes" below three
balls or circles. Other silks have foliage designs comparable to those on Iznik
pottery or carpets, with bands forming ogival compartments a popular motif. Some
designs begin to show Italian influence. By the 16th century Persian silk was using
smaller patterns, many of which showed relaxed garden scenes of beautiful boys
and girls from the same world as those in contemporary album miniatures, and
sometimes identifiable scenes from Persian poetry. A 16th-century circular ceiling
for a tent, 97 cm across, shows a continuous and crowded hunting scene; it was
apparently looted by the army of Suleiman the Magnificent in his invasion of
Persia in 1543–45, before being taken by a Polish general at the Siege of Vienna in
1683. Mughal silks incorporate many Indian elements, and often feature relatively
realistic "portraits" of plants, as found in other media.

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Indonesian batik

The development and refinement of Indonesian batik cloth was closely linked to

Islam. The Islamic prohibition on certain images encouraged batik design to
become more abstract and intricate. Realistic depictions of animals and humans are
rare on traditional batik. However, mythical serpents, humans with exaggerated
features and the Garuda of pre-Islamic mythology are common motifs.

Although its existence pre-dates Islam, batik reached its zenith in royal Muslim

courts such as Mataram and Yogyakarta, whose sultans encouraged and
patronised batik production. Today, batik is undergoing a revival, and cloths are
used for additional purposes such as wrapping the Quran.

Christian art

A mosaic from Daphni Monastery in Greece (ca. 1100), showing the midwives

bathing the new-born Christ.

Christian art is sacred art which uses themes and imagery from Christianity. Most

Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art
and architecture and Christian media.

Images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common
subjects, and scenes from the Old Testament play a part in the art of most
29
denominations. Images of the Virgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant
art than that of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which
figurative representations are forbidden, such as Islam and Judaism. However,
there are some that have promoted aniconism in Christianity, and there have been
periods of iconoclasm within Christianity, though this is not an common
interpretation of Christian theology.

Beginnings

Virgin and Child. Wall painting from the early catacombs, Rome, 4th century.

Early Christian art survives from dates near the origins of Christianity. The oldest
Christian sculptures are from sarcophagi, dating to the beginning of the 2nd
century. The largest groups of Early Christian paintings come from the tombs in
the Catacombs of Rome, and show the evolution of the depiction of Jesus, a
process not complete until the 6th century, since when the conventional appearance
of Jesus in art has remained remarkably consistent.

Until the adoption of Christianity by Constantine Christian art derived its style and

much of its iconography from popular Roman art, but from this point grand
Christian buildings built under imperial patronage brought a need for Christian
versions of Roman elite and official art, of which mosaics in churches in Rome are
the most prominent surviving examples. Christian art was caught up in, but did not
30
originate, the shift in style from the classical tradition inherited from Ancient
Greek art to a less realist and otherworldly hieratic style, the start of gothic art.

Middle Ages

Late 13th-century Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia showing the image

of Christ Pantocrator.

Much of the art surviving from Europe after the fall of the Western Roman

Empire is Christian art, although this in large part because the continuity of church
ownership has preserved church art better than secular works. While the Western
Roman Empire's political structure essentially collapsed after the fall of Rome, its
religious hierarchy, what is today the modern-day Roman Catholic
Church commissioned and funded production of religious art imagery.

The Orthodox Church of Constantinople, which enjoyed greater stability within the

surviving Eastern Empire was key in commissioning imagery there and glorifying
Christianity. As a stable Western European society emerged during the Middle
Ages, the Catholic Church led the way in terms of art, using its resources to
commission paintings and sculptures.

During the development of Christian art in the Byzantine Empire (see Byzantine

art), a more abstract aesthetic replaced the naturalism previously established

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in Hellenistic art. This new style was hieratic, meaning its primary purpose was to
convey religious meaning rather than accurately render objects and people.
Realistic perspective, proportions, light and colour were ignored in favour of
geometric simplification of forms, reverse perspective and standardized
conventions to portray individuals and events. The controversy over the use
of graven images, the interpretation of the Second Commandment, and the crisis
of Byzantine Iconoclasm led to a standardization of religious imagery within
the Eastern Orthodoxy.

Renaissance and early modern period

1. LEONARDO DA VINCI

Leonardo da Vinci

Lifespan: April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519

Nationality: Italian

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Leonardo da Vinci was the ideal Renaissance man, the greatest Universal Genius,
who, among other things, was a painter, mathematician, engineer, architect,
botanist, sculptor and anatomist. However for four centuries after his death his
fame rested primarily on his laurels as a painter. His detailed knowledge of
anatomy, light, botany and geology helped him in creating some of the most
renowned masterpieces in history. Da Vinci is known for capturing subtle
expressions due to which his paintings look more alive than others. He made
numerous contributions to the field of art including his pioneering of the
techniques known as sfumato, the smooth transition from light to shadow;
and chiaroscuro, use of strong contrasts between light and dark to achieve a three
dimensional effect. Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, world’s most famous
painting. Other famous works in art by him include The Last Supper, the most
reproduced religious painting; and Vitruvian Man, one of the most reproduced
artistic images. Leonardo da Vinci is, without doubt, the most famous artist of the
Renaissance.

Masterpiece: Mona Lisa (1517)

Mona Lisa (1517) – Leonardo da Vinci

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Leonardo da Vinci's  The Last Supper (1498).

2. MICHELANGELO BOUNARROTI

Michelangelo

Lifespan: March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564

Nationality: Italian

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was a “Renaissance

man” or “Universal Genius” who excelled in various fields including painting,

34
architecture, poetry and engineering. However, above all, he is widely regarded
as the greatest sculptor of all time. In his lifetime, Michelangelo was often
called Il Divino (“the divine one”). After his death, subsequent artists tried to
imitate his impassioned, highly personal style resulting in Mannerism, the next
major movement in Western art. Michelangelo is perhaps the most influential
figure in the history of western art whose works in painting, sculpture and
architecture have exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of art in
the west. His statue of David is the most famous sculpture in the west; his frescos
on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and The Last Judgement on its altar
wall guarantee him a place among the greatest painters; and his St. Peter’s
Basilica is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture.

Masterpiece: David (1504)

David (1504) – Michelangelo

Other Famous Works:-

The Creation of Adam (1512)

St. Peter’s Basilica (1626)

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3. RAPHAEL SANZIO

Raphael

Lifespan: April 6, 1483 – April 6, 1520

Nationality: Italian

The High Renaissance is a term used to denote the apex of the visual arts in the
Italian Renaissance. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, along with Leonardo da Vinci
and Michelangelo, forms the trinity of great masters of the High Renaissance.
Raphael was perhaps the most popular painter during the Renaissance and even
till late 19th century, his works were revered more than any other artist and he
was regarded as the best model for history painting. Though Michelangelo’s and
Leonardo’s fame has surpassed his since then, Raphael is still considered among
the greatest artists in history. He, more than anyone else, was a master in
realistically depicting emotion which brought his paintings to life. His art is
admired across the world for its clarity of form, ease of composition and visual
brilliance. Many of his paintings, including his masterpiece, The School of Athens,
are considered cornerstones of Renaissance art.

36
Masterpiece: The School of Athens (1511)

The School of Athens (1511) – Raphael

Other Famous Works:-

Sistine Madonna (1512)

Transfiguration (1520)

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought an end to the highest quality Byzantine

art, produced in the Imperial workshops there. Orthodox art, known
as icons regardless of the medium, has otherwise continued with relatively little
change in subject and style up to the present day, with Russia gradually becoming
the leading centre of production.

In the West, the Renaissance saw an increase in monumental secular works,

although Christian art continued to be commissioned in great quantities by

37
churches, clergy and by the aristocracy. The Reformation had a huge impact on
Christian art; Martin Luther in Germany allowed and encouraged the display of a
more limited range of religious imagery in churches, seeing the Evangelical
Lutheran Church as a continuation of the "ancient, apostolic church". Lutheran
altarpieces like the 1565 Last Supper by the younger Cranach were produced in
Germany, especially by Luther's friend Lucas Cranach, to replace Catholic ones,
often containing portraits of leading reformers as the apostles or other protagonists,
but retaining the traditional depiction of Jesus. As such, "Lutheran worship became
a complex ritual choreography set in a richly furnished church interior." Lutherans
proudly employed the use of the crucifix as it highlighted their high view of
the Theology of the Cross. Thus, for Lutherans, "the Reformation renewed rather
than removed the religious image." On the other hand, Christians from
a Reformed background were generally iconoclastic, destroying existing religious
imagery and usually only creating more in the form of book illustrations.

Artists were commissioned to produce more secular genres

like portraits, landscape paintings and because of the revival of Neoplatonism,
subjects from classical mythology. In Catholic countries, production of religious
art continued, and increased during the Counter-Reformation, but Catholic art was
brought under much tighter control by the church hierarchy than had been the case
before. From the 18th century the number of religious works produced by leading
artists declined sharply, though important commissions were still placed, and some
artists continued to produce large bodies of religious art on their own initiative.

Modern period

As a secular, non-sectarian, universal notion of art arose in 19th-century Western

Europe, ancient and Medieval Christian art began to be collected for art
appreciation rather than worship, while contemporary Christian art was considered

38
marginal. Occasionally, secular artists treated Christian themes
(Bouguereau, Manet) — but only rarely was a Christian artist included in the
historical canon (such as Rouault or Stanley Spencer). However many modern
artists such as Eric Gill, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Jacob Epstein, Elisabeth
Frink and Graham Sutherland have produced well-known works of art for
churches. Salvador Dalí is an artist who had also produced notable and popular
artworks with Christian themes. Contemporary artists such as Makoto
Fujimura have had significant influence both in sacred and secular arts. Other
notable artists include Larry D. Alexander and John August Swanson. Some
writers, such as Gregory Wolfe, see this as part of a rebirth of Christian humanism.

Popular devotional art

Since the advent of printing, the sale of reproductions of pious works has been a
major element of popular Christian culture. In the 19th century, this included genre
painters such as Mihály Munkácsy. The invention of color lithography led to broad
circulation of holy cards. In the modern era, companies specializing in modern
commercial Christian artists such as Thomas Blackshear and Thomas Kinkade,
although widely regarded in the fine art world as kitsch, have been very successful.

Subjects

39
Supper at Emmaus, 1601, by Caravaggio. Oil on canvas, 139 x 195 cm. National
Gallery, London

Subjects often seen in Christian art include the following. See Life of

Christ and Life of the Virgin for fuller lists of narrative scenes included in cycles:

Motifs

The Virgin Mary is shown spinning and weaving, appearing in artworks with a
loom or knitting needles, weaving cloth over her womb, or knitting for her son.
The imagery, much of it German, places the sacred narratives in the domestic
realm. She is shown weaving in paintings of The Annunciation, or spinning.
Although spinning was less common an example is found in some convents where
nuns would spin silk, presumably to create a link between the convent community
of women and the image of the Mary.

A rare sample of medieval Orthodox sculpture from Russia

40
HOW ART WAS INCLUDED INTO NIGERIAN CURRICULUM

Onuchukwu explains on the Nigerian art on the Art education in Nigeria

stating ‘the traditional art curriculum was made up of carving, mostly in wood;
modelling as in pottery; as in body decoration and wall decoration; calabash
decorations, weaving all types; work, brass or bronze; and terracotta figures and
figurines’ (Onuchukwu, 1994). Examples are the traditional graphic system
of mark making from  Uli as adopted by Tayo Adenaike andthe symbolic aesthetic
value of the African mask like that of the FESTAC mask as seen below.

Ivory, Iron and copper wire Benin Nigeria, 16th century. (British Museum, 2015)

The traditional graphic system of mark making, is traced to Uli designs. Uli is a
mark making process in Nigeria that has been utilized and referenced by many
contemporary artists, particularly Nigerian artists. Example is the Nsukka artists,
who formed an art movement ‘Uli School’, by appropriating Uli visual idioms and
designs in their modern artworks as well as using it in their practice as visual
idioms to address some of the political, economic and social issues they were
concerned with. According to Ottenberg, ‘The Nsukka artist use Uli designs but
employ Euro/American art media to create outside of traditional settings. While
using older designs and images, the contemporary artist are frequently concerned
in their art with present-day social, economic, and political problems in Nigeria
and sometimes all of Africa’ (Ottenberg, 1997 p.1).

The advent of colonisation has been a major influence on the traditional arts and
visual culture of Nigeria. In the early missionary and pre-colonial era of Nigerian
education, western system of education was introduced for Christian religious
purpose of evangelism and conversion. Onuchukwu stated that ‘The period 1842-
1882 marked intensive missionary activities and expansion in which the Church
Missionary Society, the (Wesleyan) Methodist MissionarySociety,the Roman
41
Catholic Mission, the United Presbyterian Church ofScotland,the Qua Ibo Mission
and  the PrimitiveMethodist Missionary Society rivalled each other in setting up
missions schools in Nigeria (Babs-Fafunwa1, 974)’ (Onuchukwu, 1994).

With the coming of the colonial West, western art and aesthetics were introduced
to Nigeria, especially because of the condemnation of traditional African art by
missionaries and colonisers of element or paraphernalia and barbarism as argued
by Onuchukwu, stating that, ‘the government’s aim for secondary school
education was the training of clerks and administrators, the preparation
of students for “whitecollar” jobs, an for the lucky few admission into institutions
of higher learning, especially in GreatBritain’ (Onuchukwu, 1994). In the later
missionary and colonial era which was around 1923-1959, modern art was
introduced into the Nigeria educational system through the efforts of Chief Aina
Onabolu, who adopted the western style of art and painting. Western style of Art
was now introduced into Nigeria, and this effectively displaced traditional art and
visual culture as argued by Onuchukwu stating that ‘Onabolu’s style of western
art definitely was in sharp contrast with indigenous art and in
all probability marked the beginning of the divorce between art and life in
Nigerian schools'(Onuchukwu, 1994). Example is Onabolu’s portrait of a man,
1954, his portrait paintings brought the acceptance of western art.

In the post-colonial era from 1960 and after, when Nigeria became politically
independent, there were many changes and improvements in the educational
system. Art forums and conferences was held to develop and improve the
educational system and art was offered at all systems of the Nigerian education
policy. In the pre-colonial Nigeria, there were no independent artist, artist was
commissioned by traditional cult societies which were used mainly for social
societies, rituals and tradition purposes. With the introduction of western aesthetic

42
this changed as artist didn’t need commissions. They practiced art in a modern
artistic expression, separated from the culture and tradition as argued
by Chukueggu, describing them as ‘…“Europeanized Nigerians” who did not
believe in our cultural heritage’ (Chukueggu, 2010). This aided the eradication of
traditional values and beliefs, languages, customs as well as sacred and symbolic
objects and images. 

Pioneering indigenous modernist artist motivated the need reclaim the Nigerian
traditional art with the efforts of Kenneth Crosswaite Murray as notified by
Chukueggu stating that ‘He was untiring in his resolve to give the country a
realistic art education programme, which according to him should be based on
Nigerian culture and tradition'(Chukueggu, 2010).This led to the fusion of
European art with Nigerian tradition with the efforts of Kenneth Crosswaite
School and the activities of the Zaria Art Society. Also, the Uli artist started
fighting to reclaim back the lost traditional art by referencing the traditional
historical values of the Nigerian traditional art in your practices. Examples of
some works of contemporary artist with influences from the traditional art to
reclaim its values are as follows.

Uche Okeke, Dilenma of the Colonial Politician, 1962, pen and pink on paper.
25.9 x 20.7cm

To conclude with a statement by William BASCOM on African culture and the

missionary, ‘the most important thing to be done today is to undo the evils of
western ethnocentrism by stressing the good features of African culture rather
than the bad, and what Africans have done for themselves and for the world,
rather than what we have done for them. It is more important to give the African a
pride in his own past, than it is to preserve any feature of the past for the future’
(BASCOM, 1953).

43
References:
Grabar, André (1968).  Christian iconography, a study of its origins. Princeton University
Press. ISBN 0-691-01830-8.

 Régamey, Pie-Raymond (1952).  Art sacré au XXe siècle? Éditions du Cerf.

 Jean Soldini, Storia, memoria, arte sacra tra passato e futuro, in Sacre Arti,
by Flaminio Gualdoni (editor), Tristan Tzara, S. Yanagi, Titus Burckhardt,  Bologna,
FMR, 2008, pp. 166–233.

 Onuchukwu, C (1994). Art Education in Nigeria,  Vol. 47, No. 1, Art International (Jan.,

1994), pp. 54-60. Available on: Vol. 47, No. 1, Art International (Jan., 1994), pp. 54-60.
Available on: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193441  (Accessed: 1st May, 2015)
 OYASAF, 2015. Aina Onabolu [online] Omoba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art
Foundation. Available
 BASCOM, W. (1953) African Culture and the Missionary / LES MISSIONS ET LA
CULTURE AFRICAINE Civilisations, Vol. 3, No. 4 (1953), pp. 491-504.

^ Marquardt, Janet T.; Jordan, Alyce A. (14 January 2009). Medieval Art and
Architecture after the Middle Ages. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
p.  71. ISBN 9781443803984.  In fact, Lutherans often justified their continued use of
medieval crucifixes with the same arguments employed since the Middle Ages, as is
evident from the example of the altar of the Holy Cross in the Cistercian church of
Doberan.

^ Dixon, C. Scott (9 March 2012).  Contesting the Reformation. John Wiley & Sons.
p.  146. ISBN 9781118272305.  According to Koerner, who dwells on Lutheran art,
the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image.

44
^ Beth Williamson, Christian Art: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University
Press (2004), page 110.

^ "Dalí and Religion"  (PDF). National Gallery of Victoria, Australia.

^ Wolfe, Gregory (2011). Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Human in an
Ideological Age. Intercollegiate Studies Institute. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-933859-88-0.

^ Cynthia A. Freeland, But Is It Art?: An Introduction to Art Theory, Oxford

University Press (2001), page 95

^ Rudy, Kathryn M. (2007). Weaving, Veiling and Dressing: Textiles and their

Metaphors in the Late Middle Ages. Brepols. p. 3.

^ Twomey, Lesley K. (2007). The Fabric of Marian Devotion in Isabel de Villena's

Vita Christi. Brepols. p. 61.

Judith Perani and Fred T. Smith, (1998) The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power,
and Life Cycle Rituals  (Prentice Hall).

Afro-Portugese Ivories on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of

Art History

Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database

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