In one most famous paper, Oleg Grabar asked ‘Why Write on Buildings?’. And the prominent scholar proposed some reason, and some perspective from which inscriptions and graffiti can be seen and studied. The main point is: if you write something on a wall, probably it is intended to be read, and understood by a certain…
Tag: iran
Enhancing the Persian element – Abu Kalijar’s inscription, Persepolis 438/1046
Finding a Buyid inscription carved on the stones of the ancient palace of Darius, in Persepolis, does not seem to be anything new. And indeed it is not. Anyway, the fourth Buyid inscription of Persepolis, carved to commemorate Abu Kalijar, grandson of Baha’a al-Dawla, is quite interesting for some peculiar features.
Hunting in Persepolis – Baha’ al-Dawla’s inscription 392/1001
‘Adud al-Dawla was the first Buyid ruler to set in the stones of Persepolis a reminder of his presence, in 344/955. Some time later, his third son, Baha’ al-Dawla, did the same.
Mary and Jesus or Maryam and Isa?
It was Christmas time in the city, and the virtual Twitter city provided wonderful samples of art, sometimes Christian, sometimes Islamic, depicting nativity scenes or Christmas-related subjects. Once again, a tweet reminded me the subtle distinction between Islamic art, Islamicate art, art produced in Islamic lands, art improperly called Islamic Art.
An inscribed ewer from Iran – from the object to the political ideology
Calligraphy is widespread in Islamic architecture of course, but it can be found also on a series of portable objects: woodwork, pottery and for course metalwork. In these cases the content of the inscription is strictly connected to the use of the object.
Words of wisdom: an inscribed bowl from 10th-century Iran
Pottery produced in Arab-Islamic lands displays in the great majority of cases beautifully inscribed epigraphic bands. The beauty of the inscriptions on pottery is due to the way the text was arranged on the surface and also the way it was designed to produce, in some cases, a sort of rhythm. Kufic is maybe the most…
Damghan: the minaret of the Friday Mosque (V/XI century)
The minaret of Damghan is something that I have always liked. It is not only because it is Seldjuk, and because it is the only part of the mosque that was not replaced during the Qajar period. It is for two main reasons. The first: the inscription in the lower epigraphic band contains the Light…
Gravestone tradition in 12th century Iran
After roughly one month spent thinking and thinking about the Iranian tombstone tradition developed during the 12th century, I maybe have reached some results. Actually, as the material is scattered around museums and galleries, I decided to bring some of the objects together, so that it would be easier to understand the overall tradition.
Reinterpreting an Iranian slab from XII century
After my previous blog, in which I gave my reading and some thoughts about an Iranian tombstone dated 1101 and kept in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I want to go on down this path and consider another tombstone, kept in the same museum (accession number M.73.7.1).
XII century Iranian tombstones – reading what museums don’t read
Do I have to say again that I like tombstones? I think it’s quite clear… In these days, following the post about signatures on Iranian tombstones from XII century, I started to search similar material in museums and auction houses just to have an overall view on the subject. Well…I must admit that some of…
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