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Although the concept of "Islamic art" has been put into question by some modern art historians as a construct of Western cultural views, [9] [10] [11] 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 ...
Islamic art was widely imported and admired by European elites during the Middle Ages. [5] There was an early formative stage from 600-900 and the development of regional styles from 900 onwards. Early Islamic art used mosaic artists and sculptors trained in the Byzantine and Coptic traditions. [6]
With around 3,600 objects from more than 260 international collections in 80 pavillions, [1] it was the largest exhibition of Islamic art before the World War I. It aimed at a comprehensive historical overview of the arts in Muslim countries and thus prepared the ground for further scientific research on this field.
Islamic art began with artists and craftsmen mostly trained in Byzantine styles, and though figurative content was greatly reduced, Byzantine decorative styles remained a great influence on Islamic art, and Byzantine artists continued to be imported for important works for some time, especially for mosaics.
The metaphor of a golden age began to be applied in 19th-century literature about Islamic history, in the context of the western aesthetic fashion known as Orientalism.The author of a Handbook for Travelers in Syria and Palestine in 1868 observed that the most beautiful mosques of Damascus were "like Mohammedanism itself, now rapidly decaying" and relics of "the golden age of Islam".
An exhibition at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi in 2008 was, at the time, the largest exhibition of Islamic art ever held. [8] The Wall Street Journal has described it as the greatest collection of Islamic Art in existence. [4] According to Edward Gibbs, Chairman of Middle East and India at Sotheby's, it is the best such collection in private ...
The hypostyle mosque constructed by Muhammad in Medina served as a model for early mosque design throughout the Islamic world. [10] Umayyad religious architecture was the earliest expression of Islamic art on a grand scale [163] and the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus reproduced the hypostyle model at a monumental scale. [164]
The history of Islam is believed by most historians [1] to have originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE, [2] [3] although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abrahamic prophets, such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus, with the submission (Islām) to the will of God.