The Mosque Lamp Syria (13th-14th century)

By


Mosque lamp, Syria, 13th-14th century (Brooklyn Museum)

https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-medieval-period/

Mosques are very sacred Islamic buildings. Purpose of these architectures is to be a gathering place for prayer. Inside Mosques includes a lot of intricate art that all have purpose and symbolism to religion. The Mosque Lamps take part in the mosques in a very significant way. The Mosque Lamp is not only appealing to look at, but also has a much deeper meaning with the details and form it presents. The lamp illuminates glow that symbolizes the divine light. The heavenly glow is to represents the presence of God. During the period of Mamluk in Egypt and Syria, some of the finest lamps were produced. Their purpose to be commissioned was to light up the interior of Mamluk mosques and charitable functions. Light that comes from the lamps is essential for the place of prayer. The light illuminates the mosques with heavenly light during the first and last daily prayers. The daily prayers occur before the sun rises and after the sun sets which is usually dark at these times, which make the lamps that much more significant.  These lamps functioned with oil lamps. How these lamps functioned was by being hung with chains from the mosque ceilings. There are hundreds of lamps that were hung in the mosques. With these many lights, the lamps create a softs light that emphasizes the detail on the lamps and other beauty inside the buildings. This mosque lamp from Syria is from the 13th to 14th century. The artwork is from the Mamluk Dynasty. With the flared neck, six handles, rounded body, and wide base, this lamp is considered on of the most distinguishable pieces. It is also one of the few Mamluk mosque lamps to still be intact with a wick still inside it. The Mosque Lamp is made from a colorless glass, but also glass with multiple colors. These colors include; white, yellow, red, green and blue. The lamp also includes enamels that are applied, tooled and gilded on the pontil. The pontil is solid metal rod that is used with a wad of hot glass, and then applied to the base of the vessel to hold on to. The enamels are brown and gold. With the base, the vessel measures to be 12 inches by 8 inches. Around the body, the inscriptions reads, العالم.  This is in Arabic, it says, "al-`aalim”, which translates to “the wise” in English. This phrase is repeated three times on the body. The Mosque Lamp is now located in the Arts of the Islamic World collection in the Brooklyn Museum.

 







Comments

  1. M. RobersonSeptember 27, 2020 at 3:43 PM

    Hi, Amanda! I love the fact that these lamps represent god's presence with its heavenly lighting. It is clear why these lamps are not only important to the mosques where they reside, but also their importance to everyday prayer, great job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. David FloresSeptember 27, 2020 at 6:03 PM

    I like the way you started this, talking about Mosques, then leading into this lamp, it really drew me in. I also didn't think a lamp such as this one, signified the presence of God, being shown through the lamps glow. That was very interesting to learn about. Especially the part where you said they use this lamp, when praying before dawn, when after dusk.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emily SnyderSeptember 28, 2020 at 6:19 PM

    I enjoyed reading about this Mosque lamp! It is always interesting to see the amount of detail that goes into such beautiful pieces. I also found it interesting that you added the inscriptions of what was on this lamp and explained what it represented. Nice read overall!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sesshū

By
Image
  This painting has a very distinctive technique used to create a landscape. The technique is called haboku, which means splashed ink or broken ink. This technique became very popular in 1420-1506, because of master Sesshū Tōyō. The painting does not have a name, most know it as “Sesshū”. Medium used for this piece is simply just ink on paper. The scroll is about 148.6 centimeters by 32.7 centimeters. The artist who took influence from Sesshū was named Bokushō. The process they did to create this landscape was by applying wet, dark ink in a rapidly fashion to paper. To get the shapes that were desired, the artist had to have light brush strokes to make the soft, and diffused effect. In the piece there are no harsh lines or forced figures, but still creates a prominent image of a landscape. The haboku technique requires a lot of patience and Zen. Often, the artists who use this technique are Zen Buddhist; they paint this way to celebrate their mindset. The technique...
Read more

Ilkhanid Mihrab

By
Image
 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam/chronological-periods-islamic/islamic-art-medieval/v/ilkhanid-mihrab-1354-55-isfahan-iran-metropolitan-museum-of-art-new-york The Mihrab (Prayer Niche) was created with a lot of artistic views and purpose with religion. The Mihrab was created in 755 A.D, originating in Iran, Isfahan. The  mihrab  is  so significant in archaeology due to the existence of an appropriately arranged mihrab  in a building. Because of this, the artwork can indicate Muslim attendance in a settlement. The prayer  niche  is the main focus inside of a mosque. A mosque is a symbol of Islamic architecture. This architecture has an important purpose by displaying the power of Allah the Almighty. The embellishments are to be engaged as part of  mosque  factors. It is more than to be just aesthetically pleasing to the viewer. The location is in the qibla wall, which is oriented toward the holy city of Islam...
Read more

Art 211 9/9/20

By
Image
  Laocoön and His Sons (The Laocoön Group)   https://smarthistory.org/athanadoros-hagesandros-and-polydoros-of-rhodes-laocoon-and-his-sons/   Laocoön and His Sons, or the Laocoön Group was sculpted in 323 BCE – 31 CE . The marble piece was unearthed in Rome in 1506. The fragments of the sculpture were found in the remains of the palace of the emperor Titus.  Ancient art historian, Pliny has seen the piece there a long time before. According to Pliny, Laocoön and His Sons was created by three sculptures from Rhodes. Those sculptors were, Polydoros, Athanadoros and Hagesandros. The details such as the muscles and movement and energy is not associated with classical ancient Greece but with Hellenistic with the third or second century.  Laocoön and His Sons displays significance in the realistic representation of movement. Apparently, Laocoön had only one son, but the sculptors’ variation added another son to correspond with the Roman poet Vergil’s accoun...
Read more