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Lynx-shaped fragrance burner, Iran, 12th-13th century. © Nour Foundation |
“Islamic Art” is a broad category that takes in many different cultures, time periods, and types of art and objects. The current exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe, “Arts of …
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Lynx-shaped fragrance burner, Iran, 12th-13th century. © Nour Foundation |
“Islamic Art” is a broad category that takes in many different cultures, time periods, and types of art and objects. The current exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe, “Arts of Islam: Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection” – which offers everything from illuminated manuscripts to rugs and pottery from countries ranging from Spain to India and dating from the seventh to the 20th century – is a perfect example of the overwhelming expansiveness of the designation, but this show, jam-packed with magnificent pieces, is not to be missed.
The 500 works on display are only a fraction of a 20,000-piece collection – the world’s largest private collection of its kind and considered one of the best – brought together by Nasser David Khalili, an Iranian-born, London-based property developer, collector and philanthropist from a Jewish family.
The exhibition – divided into three sections: sacred, royal and laic arts and objects – begins with “The Pilgrim’s Companion” (1677-80), by Safi B. Vali, a charming, beautifully drawn and painted visual guidebook for pilgrims to Mecca and Medina, complete with tips on grooming, hygiene and ritual slaughter of animals.
An extensive collection of sumptuous hand-lettered Korans allows us to see the evolution of calligraphy techniques and styles across the Islamic world, with two pages from the only Koran written (in gold) on indigo-dyed pages, dating from the ninth century and probably from Turkey or Spain.
The show also includes many handsome examples of ceramics, notably a few starkly beautiful bowls from 10th-century Iran with brownish-black inscriptions on a white background, and numerous other striking artifacts – animal-shaped fragrance burners, astrolabes, carpets, textiles, swords and daggers, jewelry, headdresses, saddles and more – but to my mind the stars of the show are the illuminated manuscripts, with their fascinating, beautiful miniatures filled with legends and stories (and human and animal figures – figuration is frowned upon only in religious art), which show the free mixing not only of different mythological and religious traditions, but also of artistic influences from various cultures.
In one of 10 plates on show from the early-15th-century “Legend of the Prophets” (from Iraq or Iran), for example, we see the giant Uj (Og in the Bible), son of Cain, bursting out of the frame of the miniature and looming over a scene that includes Mohammed, Moses, Jesus (adult) and the Virgin Mary and the Christ child. The story goes that Moses hit Uj in the neck causing him to fall down and form a bridge over the Nile with his body.
One of the 10 marvelous pages from an early-16th-century illustrated edition of the Persian epic Shah Namah (The Book of Kings), by the poet Firdausi, shows Rustam (a.k.a. Saint George) slaying the dragon against a backdrop painted in flat, irreal colors: purple mountains, a green tree trunk, deep-blue sky, etc. The strong influence of Chinese painting is clear in the treatment of the mountains and clouds. Sadly, this precious masterpiece was broken up in the 1970s by the American collector Arthur Houghton, who donated some plates to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and sold off the others.
A plate from another magical book, an early-17th-century book of divination from India, shows the amusing scene of the visit of Yusuf (Joseph) visit to Zulaikha, whose female guests are so overwhelmed by his beauty that they accidentally cut their fingers with fruit knives.
Set aside a minimum of two hours to view the riches on display in this splendid show, since so its many of its hundreds of exhibits merit close study.
Institut du Monde Arabe: 1, rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard, Place Mohammed-V, 75005 Paris. Métro: Jussieu. Tel.: 01 40 51 38 38. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (until 10 p.m. on Thursday); Saturday-Sunday and public holidays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Admission: €10.50. Through March 14, 2010. www.imarabe.org
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