75665 - History of Islamic Art (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By attending this course, the student will gain a sound knowledge of the main artistic themes related to the Islamic world throughout its various geographical regions. S/he will be able to analyse Islamic artefacts with the appropriate language and terminology. The student will succeed in contextualizing the objects and buildings and create a consistent and solid bibliography.

Course contents

Moving from the Umayyad period up to the three empires of the early modern era, the course surveys the main themes of Islamic art. Seminars focus on both the regional and dynastic differences as well as the unifying features of Islamic art. A visit to the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza and/or the collection of Islamic art at the Medieval Civic Museum in Bologna, allows the course to address themes related to the history and practice of collecting and displaying Islamic objects in museums.

1. Umayyad architecture
2. Abbasid architecture
3. Objects and calligraphy from the early Islamic period
4. Seljuk architecture
5. Fatimid architecture
6. Objects and calligraphy from the medieval period
   
7. Objects and calligraphy from the medieval period / 2
   
8. Ilkhanid and Timurid architecture
9. Mamluk and Western-Islamic architecture
   
10. Ilkhanid and Timurid art
    
11. Visit to Museum
12. Ottoman art and architecture
13. Safavid art and architecture
14. Moghul art and architecture
15. Islamic art museums

Readings/Bibliography

Grabar, Oleg and Ettinghausen, Richard, Islamic art and architecture, 650-1250, New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2001:
Chapter 1, pp. 3-6;
Chapter 2, pp. 10-79;
Chapter 5, pp. 139-163;
Chapter 6, pp. 187-200; 206-217; 234-49.

Blair, Sheila and Bloom, Jonathan, The art and architecture of Islam 1250-1800, New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1994:
Chapter 2, pp. 5-15;
Chapter 3, pp. 21-35;
Chapter 4, pp. 37-50;
Chapter 5, pp. 55-69;
Chapter 6, pp. 70-84;
Chapter 8, pp. 97-103;
Chapter 9, pp. 114-131;
Chapter 10, pp. 132-146;
Chapter 12, pp. 165-176;
Chapter 13, pp. 183-198;
Chapter 15, pp. 213-227;
Chapter 18, pp. 267-286;
Chapter 19, pp. 287-296.

 

Bibliography for those students who do not attend the course:

Grabar, Oleg and Ettinghausen, Richard, Islamic art and architecture, 650-1250, New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2001: Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Blair, Sheila and Bloom, Jonathan, The art and architecture of Islam 1250-1800, New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1994: Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19.

Teaching methods

Each seminar is subdivided into two sections. A first part consists of a collective discussion on the theme of the day and a second part consists of a frontal lecture offered by the instructor.

The course also includes one visit to one collection of Islamic art located in the area of Bologna.

Assessment methods

The final mark consists of the average between the assessment of the written essay and the assessment of the final oral exam.

The essay consists of a written piece of around 3000 words on a theme decided together with the professor.

With regard to the written essay, students will be evaluated assessing their skills in:

• Structuring the written essay according to the theme;
• Formulating an accurate formal analysis of the object/building focus of the written essay;
• Reviewing the existing literature;
• Outlining the historical and artistic context of the assigned object/building;
• Producing a written essay provided with high-quality images and a consistent and accurate footnoting and bibliography.

The oral exam consists of an analysis of two objects/buildings discussed during the course and shown in slides during the exam and of a question regarding one of the themes discussed during the course.

In the oral exam the student will be assessed according to the:

• Capacity of analysis developed by the student also at the light of the written essay;
• Command of the specific language of the subject;
• Ability in summarizing the most important topics of the subject.

29-30 e lode: a written essay that successfully meets all the above-mentioned five criteria together with the acquisition by the student of an excellent command of the technical language of the subject and an all-around knowledge of the themes discussed during the oral exam.

25-28: a written essay that successfully meets at least four of the above-mentioned criteria together with the use of a rather correct technical language and an accurate exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

21-24: a written essay that successfully meets at least three of the above mentioned criteria together with some inadequacies in the use of the technical language and a superficial exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

18-20: a written essay that meets at least three of the above mentioned criteria together with a patchy and poor exposition of the subject during the oral exam or a written essay that meets less than three among the above mentioned criteria together with a very basic exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

Failure: a written essay that meets less than three among the above mentioned criteria together with a patchy and poor exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

 

Contents of the exam for those students who do not attend the course:

Contents of the exam for those students who do not attend the course: 

1) Discussion of an essay (of at least 5000 words) devoted to a topic related to Islamic art. 

2) Two questions on Topics related to the history of Islamic art.

Details: 

1) The student selects a theme and sends an outline of the essay together with a preliminary bibliography to the professor by email. Once the theme is approved, the student writes the essay and sends it to the professor at least one week before the date of the exam.

2) to prepare the two questions related to the history of Islamic art, the student is invited to read the bibliography listed in the above section "readings/bibliography"

Teaching tools

All seminar presentations and readings will be made available through the e-learning platform (IOL).

Office hours

See the website of Mattia Guidetti