Agra to Istanbul: Islamic Art in the Early Modern Era

Catalog description

From glittering gold domes to vibrantly colored illuminated manuscripts, this course examines Islamic art and architecture from the Indian subcontinent to the eastern Mediterranean from the fifteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. This period corresponds to the rise of major Islamic empires, most notably the Mughals in India, Safavids in Iran, and Ottomans in Turkey, whose capital cities became booming centers of art and architecture. Engaging with a time of Islamic imperial aspirations, our course will examine the so-called “gunpowder empires” whose name hints at both their technological innovations and their conflicts with each other. Dispelling the illusion that the Islamic world was a unified whole, this course will focus on three distinct manifestations of Islamic empire, each with their own cultural and artistic traditions, histories, and political inclinations. Students will gain an understanding of monumental architecture (both religious and secular), Islamic manuscript painting, textile production, and ceramics. We will engage with a range of themes apparent in the material record from this period, including the role of figural imagery in Islamic art, the cultural significance of language, migration of artists and diplomatic exchange, and the fluidity of religious identity. Over the course of the semester, students will gain a foundational understanding of Islamic art in the early modern era, as well as insight into the languages, cultures, and political history of the Islamic world. Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Art Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Middle East Studies Satisfies South Asian Studies minor requirement. Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement