com). There was nothing obscene about the beauty of David, not even in the eyes of Catholic Italy, and long after the wars of the Italian city-states have ended, the glory of David lingers in the mind.
Chapter 3: Islamic detour
It must not be forgotten that many great, artistically-inclined civilizations existed beyond that of the borders of West: for example, remember the Islamic world during the Middle Ages. But upon gazing at the works of this great civilization it is essential to remember that artistic conventions differ greatly than from their Western counterparts -- pictorial and figurative representations of individuals were not prized as they were in Italy, for example, because of the Islamic injunction against perfect reproductions. But this does not mean that human likenesses were not represented at all, as can be seen in a typical depiction of a tympanum, from a fifteenth-century tombstone of the town of Kubachi, commandeered by an unknown source, to commemorate the dead. There, a sculpted rider wears a cloud collar that covers the rider's chest, as is traditional in images of Central Asian nomadic archers. It is said to be symbolic of the Mongol roots of the Golden Horde (1227 -- 1502) (Tympanum, 2009, Met). The representation is deliberately stereotypical, and designed not to represent a literal or specific human being -- so long as human representations were not an attempt to encapsulate real life, they were allowed. Thus, to look at Islamic art and say 'this is not realistic' is to impose Western individualism and aesthetic standards upon another civilization, but to generalize and say that human forms were never represented at all is also inaccurate.
"The strongest statements on the subject of figural depiction are made in the Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet), where painters are challenged to 'breathe life' into their creations and threatened with punishment on the Day of Judgment. The Qur'an is less specific but condemns idolatry and uses the Arabic term musawwir ('maker of forms,' or artist) as an epithet for God. Partially...
Indeed, throughout Islamic art, few famous artists are known, as working within a tradition, rather than asserting the self is of greater value. Thus, there is always complexity in every civilization when formulating an artistic tradition. Islam is never a monolith -- not then and not today. The carved stone with traces of paint does not have the individuated figurative definition and motion of David or even the older works of the Arch of Constantine, but the motion of the horse dancing across the frieze is compelling. The figure is clearly a design, not a figure with the breath and life of human being like David. But individualism is not what is valued in Islamic art -- this illustrates the negotiation between ideology and art inherent within all civilizations.
Works Cited
Figural Representation in Islamic Art. (2001, October). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Retrieved June 20, 2009 at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/figs/hd_figs.htm
Seindal, Renee. (2003). Arch of Constantine. Last updated 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2009 at http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/299_Arch_of_Constantine.html
Statue of David by Michelangelo. (2009). Statue.com. Retrieved June 19, 2009 at http://www.statue.com/statue-of-david.html
Tympanum, late 14th -- early 15th century; Golden Horde Daghestan region, Caucasus (probably
Kubachi) Carved stone with traces of paint. (2009). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Retrieved June 20, 2009 at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/waa/ho_38.96.htm
