Islamic Art and Architecture, 2nd Edition

Robert Hillenbrand

Paperback, 336 pages

9780500204559

Embracing over a thousand years of history and an area stretching from the Atlantic to the borders of India and China, this is an unrivalled synthesis of the arts of Islamic civilization. From the death of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day, Robert Hillenbrand traces the evolution of an extraordinary range of art forms, including architecture, calligraphy, book illumination, painting, ceramics, glassware, textiles and metalwork. New to this edition is a chapter ranging from c. 1700 to c. 1900, a period very often neglected in books on this subject. Hillenbrand explores how recent centuries, far from being a dark age, have seen incredible artistic ferment and creativity across the Islamic world.

Full-colour illustrations of masterpieces of Islamic art and architecture - from Moorish Spain to contemporary Iran - show the far-reaching stylistic developments as well as the recurrent preoccupations that have shaped the arts of Islam since the seventh century. 

Contents

1: The Birth of Islamic Art: the Umayyads

2: The Abbasids

3: The Fatimids

4: The Saljuqs

5: The Age of the Atabegs

6: The Mamluks

7: The Muslim West

8: The Ilkhanids and Timurids

9: The Safavids

10: The Ottomans

11: Towards Modernity