An Islamic world map from Treasures of the Bodleian

Introduction to an early world map from the Book of Curiosities by Prof Emily Savage-Smith, Emeritus Professor of the History of Islamic Science, University of Oxford.

This is part of an anonymous treatise, entitled The Book of Curiosities, and is unlike any other recorded ancient or medieval map. At the top there is a carefully executed graphic scale, over which the Mountain of the Moon, thought to be the source of the River Nile, has been painted. The land-mass to the lower right is Europe, including a very large Iberian peninsula to its right. At the left-hand margin of the map, a brown land-mass has an inscription outlined in red reading ‘Island of the Jewel, and its mountains encircle it like a basket’. This island, usually interpreted as Indonesia or Formosa, was considered to be the easternmost limit of the inhabitable world. The map also depicts, in the lower left corner, the legendary barrier built by Alexander the Great to keep out Gog and Magog, the mythical enemies of civilization who dwelt in the far north-east of the inhabitable world.

From Treasures of the Bodleian, for more information, click HERE

Roads of Arabia. Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia

Roads of Arabia. Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia
17 May 2011 - 4 September 2011
Top floor of the Winter Palace/ State Hermitage museum

17 May, 2011 Exhibition Roads of Arabia. Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia opened in the State Hermitage.
The exhibition (Rooms 351-356, 359) presents over three hundred of unique archeological finds, discovered in the territory of Arabia in the recent decades by archeologists of different countries and having combined in a really grand exposition for the first time. Monuments from different museums of Saudi Arabia among which there is ceramics, coins and jewelry, funeral steles, colossal statues of emperors, dishware from silver and precious jewelry, reflecting many thousands of years of Arabian history from the Paleolithic Age up to the 20th century. The exhibition includes seven sections: first five sections present exhibits of pre-Islamic time, the last two are dedicated to generation of Islam and Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina as well as to establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The main theme of the exhibition: roads, trade routes and routes of pilgrims from the ancient times and up to the present days, connecting Arabia with the outside world and its separate parts between each other. In pre-historic period one of the dispersal routes of the primitive man from the eastern Africa to Eurasia went through Arabia. In the historic age the Arabian states were growing and prospering thanks largely to contacts with great ancient civilizations sometimes being highly competitive with them in the level of development. The monuments featured in the exhibition demonstrate lively connections of Arabia with Mesopotamia and Egypt, with the countries of ancient Middle East from the Indus valley to the Mediterranean world, having existed for thousands of years, later - with antique states and then with all the countries of the Muslim world.

Trade routes intersected Arabian Peninsula in all directions: south-to north and west-to east. Caravans, carrying articles of luxury and exotic goods from Southern Arabia to the countries of the Mediterranean and West Asia had been going along them for centuries. Oases: Tayma, Madyan, Najran, Nabatene, located on the trade routes gradually became large centers of international trading: cities and kingdoms, which wealth and power were famous from different sources including Bible, developed in them.

Over ten different languages were spoken in the territory of the Arabian Peninsula in the ancient times. Constant movement along the trade routes encouraged contacts between different Arabian tribes, their cultural and religious impacts on each other; it gradually led to mixture of pantheons of languages and writing, artistic traditions. It also paved the way for rapid extension of Islam, originated in the early 7th century in the north-west of Arabia in Hejaz. In the Islamic time trade routes turned into the pilgrim’s ones, connecting the most important cities of the Muslim world with Islamic relics in Mecca and Medina. And in a thousand of years political union of the country under the reign of Al Saud Dynasty went along the same routes.

A considerable part of the exhibition items has been discovered and introduced into scientific use in the recent decades. In the beginning of the 1970s the Antiquities and Museums Department of the Saudi Arabian Committee on Tourism and Antiquities developed a program on study of archeological monuments in six regions of Saudi Arabia: Eastern, North-Eastern, Northern, Western, South-Western and Central regions. Results, obtained in the process of this program accomplishment are presented at the exhibition in the Hermitage which is the fruit of many years of efforts of archeologists and historians of Saudi Arabia and other countries of the world and a wonderful example of international scientific collaboration.

Exhibition Curator is Natalia Kozlova, Head of the Oriental Department of the State Hermitage.

For the exhibition the publishing house of the State Hermitage prepared a catalogue under scientific editorship of Mikhail Piotrovsky Director of the State Hermitage.

A Prince's Manuscript Unbound: Muhammed juki's Shahnamah

On view at Asia Society Museum, New York
February 9 through May 1, 2011

To visit the splendid website, click HERE

Asia Society Museum presents an exquisite fifteenth-century manuscript commissioned by the Timurid prince Muhammad Juki (1402–1444). This rarely exhibited volume, now in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, features more than thirty richly painted and illuminated miniatures that illustrate scenes from the Persian national epic, the Shahnamah (Book of Kings). This is the first time that the illustrations in the manuscript—recently unbound and conserved—have all been exhibited together.
Although it is not known when the epic was first illustrated, countless copies of this poem have been made through the ages. The intricately colored and gilded manuscript illustrations on view are among the finest examples of Persian painting.
Written by the Persian poet Firdausi (ca. 935–1026), the nearly 60,000 couplet poem is based on a history of the kings of Persia, depicting legendary accounts of the beginnings of civilization until the Arab Muslim conquest that ended Persian rule in the seventh century.
―This is one of the most superb Persian manuscripts of its day,‖ said Asia Society Museum Director and Vice President of Global Art Programs Melissa Chiu. ―The rich colors, striking compositions, and intricate detail make the work truly remarkable in the long tradition of miniature painting. It has been one thousand years since this story was
first written, and we are so pleased to celebrate this anniversary with a manuscript of such artistic and historical importance.‖
The exhibition is organized by Adriana Proser, Asia Society Museum’s John H. Foster Curator for Traditional Asian Art, in consultation with independent scholar Barbara Brend. The exhibition is accompanied by Brend’s book Muhammad Juki’s Shahnamah of Firdausi, published by the Royal Asiatic Society/Philip Wilson Publishers, 2010, the first complete study of the manuscript.

About Muhammad Juki’s Shahnamah
Prince Juki’s Shahnamah was produced in the 1440s in Herat, the fifteenth-century capital of the Timurid empire located in present-day Afghanistan. When Babur, a later descendant of the Timurids, founded the Mughal dynasty in Northern India in 1526, the manuscript was taken there, where it remained until the eighteenth century. It later entered British hands as a gift to the Marquess of Hastings, Governor General of India. Presented to the Royal Asiatic Society by Lt. Col. C.J. Doyle in 1834, the manuscript is thought to have been a parting gift to him from Lord Hastings on leaving India. It bears the seals of Mughal emperors Babur, Humayun, Jahangir and Awrangzib, as well as the seal and an autographed note by Shah Jahan.
Juki’s Shahnamah boasts sumptuous colors, striking compositions and elegant calligraphy. The manuscript contains thirty-two miniatures created by several different hands as well as two pages of intricate textual illumination, all of which are on view in the exhibition. As is typical in court painting from Iran in this period, the influence of both native and foreign traditions is seen in the style of the illustrations. For example, landscape elements derived from Chinese painting appear in the stylized rock and mountain formations, while Chinese influence is also found in the depiction of clouds and flames.

Timurid patronage
Iran and much of Central Asia were ruled by the Timurid empire from 1363–1506. The Timurids, who were great patrons of the arts, presided over an empire that stretched from Anatolia to India at its height. They supported important architectural projects and the production of decorative arts and, under their patronage, Persian painting was elevated to a major form of artistic expression. Their reign is still considered as the time when Persian book arts reached their height. Prince Juki was a grandson of Timur and the seventh son of Shah Rukh. This manuscript is the only work he is known to have commissioned. It was left unfinished when he died; indeed, its later pages show some signs that additional planned pictures were sacrificed in the endeavor to finish before his passing.

Paradise Found : Islamic Architecture and Arts

FFH: “Renowned art commentator Waldemar Januszczak makes an epic journey of discovery across the Muslim world, revealing awe-inspiring architecture and art objects that evoke the history of Islam. Along the way he meets local historians and experts—as well as an array of weavers, calligraphers, potters, and jewelers—who contribute their knowledge of this fascinating art-historical field. The result is a stimulating introduction to a set of globally significant aesthetic traditions.

Source: Ikonotv.de

New app for the iPhone for the exhibition Passion for Perfection

For me new in the field of exhibitions, a brand new app for the Iphone relating to the Exhibition Passion for Perfection in Amsterdam.
Works splendid and both are beautiful on the Iphone screen!

The app will introduce you to some of the exhibition highlights. You'll also get a glimpse behind the scenes with footage of the exhibition being installed to Siebe Tettero's spectacular design. Including a brief overview of the exhibition concept from Tettero himself.

You can also listen to collector Prof. Nasser D. Khalili himself speak passionately and knowledgably about some of his personal favourites.

Download the app in the App Store now (DNK Khalili)

Passion for Perfection - Islamic art from the Khali - Preview 2

Until 17 April 2011 at De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam

New York Times: "A globally renowned collection of Islamic art is on view at De Nieuwe Kerk (Dam, International Exhibition Centre, Gravenstraat 17; 31-20-626-8168; http://www.nieuwekerk.nl/en/) through April 17. Assembled by Prof. Nasser D. Khalili, a well-known scholar and benefactor, it includes over 500 objects, among them illuminated Korans and manuscripts, paintings, gold, jewels, textiles, ceramics, glassware, lacquerware, metalwork and wood carvings.

"The exhibit shows that Islamic art is a masterly expression not of a single national culture or civilization," said Vincent Boele, curator of exhibitions for the museum, "but of many peoples joined by Islam for more than 1,400 years."

More at NYTimes.com

More: www.nieuwekerk.nl

Interview with Prof.Nasser D.Khalili/ Exhibition Passion for Perfectiom, Amsterdam

Preview: Passion for Perfection - Islamic art from the Khali

New York Times: "A globally renowned collection of Islamic art is on view at De Nieuwe Kerk (Dam, International Exhibition Centre, Gravenstraat 17; 31-20-626-8168; http://www.nieuwekerk.nl/en/) through April 17. Assembled by Prof. Nasser D. Khalili, a well-known scholar and benefactor, it includes over 500 objects, among them illuminated Korans and manuscripts, paintings, gold, jewels, textiles, ceramics, glassware, lacquerware, metalwork and wood carvings.

"The exhibit shows that Islamic art is a masterly expression not of a single national culture or civilization," said Vincent Boele, curator of exhibitions for the museum, "but of many peoples joined by Islam for more than 1,400 years."

More at NYTimes.com:...
www.nieuwekerk.nl/en