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Art & Architecture

A Yemen Reality- Architecture Sculptured in Mud and Stone

A Yemen Reality

Architecture Sculptured in Mud and Stone Salma Samar Damluji

This is a stunning visual guide to the architecture and life of southern Yemen, throwing light on the mysteries of Middle Eastern Architecture. Master builders have kept alive techniques and styles practiced for centuries, while adapting them to modern requirements. Their practical value and aesthetic quality is beautifully illustrated in this book.

Arabic Spain Sidelights on her History and Art

Arabic Spain

Sidelights on her History and Art Bernhard and Ellen Whishaw

Soon after their arrival in Spain the authors realized that the early Muslim art of Seville was curiously different from that of Cordova. This fascinated them and they undertook eight years of study in Seville, making use of the resources available to them in the city’s libraries to bring their audience this history of the Muslims in Spain, first published in 1912. Concentrating on Seville, they provide a chronological narrative of Spain from the Muslim invasion of 711 until the Reconquista of the fifteenth century.

The Experience of Islamic Art on the Margins of Islam

The Experience of Islamic Art on the Margins of Islam

Irene A. Bierman

This book is a collection of papers from the Giorgio Levi Della Vida Conference. It explores the meaning of Islamic art in various different contexts, beginning with its effect on those who experience the art firsthand, using as examples the mantle of Roger II of Sicily and the ceiling of the Capella Palatine, both of which are remarkable works of Islamic art used and experienced by non-Muslims. The idea that objects can be used to demonstrate the reaction of one culture to another is explored, and we are given a glimpse into the social meanings of objects.

The Bretschneider Albums: 19th Century Paintings of Life in China

The Bretschneider Albums

19th Century Paintings of Life in China
Ignacio Peña
Emil Vasilyevich Bretschneider

In 1866, Emil Vasilyevich Bretschneider was posted to China, where he then spent eighteen years, as physician to the Russian Embassy. Not content simply to fulfil his medical role, he exercised his extraordinary energy in numerous fields. Very quickly Bretschneider acquired a good knowledge of the Chinese language, spoken and written, and early in the 1870s he published a serious monographic study on the historical-archaeological exploration of Peking.

The Christian Art of Byzantine Syria by Ignacio Peña

The Christian Art of Byzantine Syria

Ignacio Peña

The thriving Byzantine Empire produced a particularly fine standard of art and architecture between the 4th and 7th centuries. Many well-preserved examples of this rich archaeological history can be found in Syria. In particular, the legendary Dead Cities of northern Syria were largely unexplored until recently and this book provides a fascinating insight into the once-thriving towns, including their markets, houses, halls, bath-houses, churches, temples and tombs.

The Qur'an Manuscripts in the al-Haram al-Sharif Islamic Museum, Jerusalem

The Qur'an Manuscripts

in the al-Haram al-Sharif Islamic Museum, Jerusalem

Of the many ways in which Muslims through the ages have sought to express their faith, none is more impressive than that of Qur’anic calligraphy and illumination. The legacy of this elaborate art forms a comprehensive yet cohesive whole which has both assimilated and adapted to the cultural differences that exist over the vast distances separating the regions of the Islamic world.

The Art and Architecture of Ottoman Istanbul

The Art and Architecture of Ottoman Istanbul

Richard Yeomans

This beautiful book allows the reader to appreciate the complexities and subtleties of Ottoman art and architecture as a whole, while simultaneously learning more about the history of one of the world’s most magnificent cities – Istanbul.

Bridging the gap between the specialist scholar and the educated general reader, the history of the city is discussed, from the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 up to the beginning of the twentieth century when the Ottoman Empire was finally dismantled following the First World War.

Zillij: The Art of Moroccan Ceramics

Zillij: The Art of Moroccan Ceramics

Salma Samar Damluji

Zillij: The Art of Moroccan Ceramics represents an outstanding photographic record of Moroccan ceramics and cut tiles, with written contributions from leading art historians and architects specialising in these fields.

Photographer John Hedgecoe and the editor Salma Samar Damluji were given unprecedented access to Morocco’s finest buildings, including Royal Palaces, and to private and state museum collections. Through the auspices of the Ministry of Culture in Morocco, a unique book on one of the world’s great forms of art has been created.

Impressions of Granada and the Alhambra

Philibert Joseph Girault de Prangey

This book is a beautiful reproduction of a portfolio of engravings of the most famous sites of Moorish architecture. Granada – home to the glorious palace of the Alhambra, the haunting ruins of the Vermilion Towers, the verdant gardens of the Generalife – captures the imagination today just as it did 150 years ago. Some of de Prangey’s engravings show grand panoramas of the city against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. Others are record drawings of the most intricate architectural details.

The Valley of Mud Brick Architecture by Salmar Samar Damluji

The Valley of Mud-Brick Architecture

Shibam, Tarim and Wadi Hadramut Salma Samar Damluji

Examining in detail the cities of Shibam and Tarim, Dr Damluji analyses the buildings and planning of the Hadramut region. She argues that many new building practices are unsuited to the local environment, lack consideration of climatic needs and are technically inferior to long-established construction methods. Moreover, they presuppose ‘imported’ expertise and raw materials and therefore have implications for economic and cultural autonomy.