Colour, light and wonder in Medieval Islamic Aesthetics

By drawing on a range of literature, this brief paper provides an insight into medieval Islamic aesthetics and particularly its concern with the importance of colour, light and wonderment, their generation, and how they are gazed upon contemplatively in art and architecture. Descriptions of architec...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Trevathan, Idries
Tipo de recurso: capítulo de libro
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:235947
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/235947
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Color
Llum
Estètica
Arquitectura
Art
Meravella
Colour
Light
Aesthetics
Architecture
Wonder
Descripción
Sumario:By drawing on a range of literature, this brief paper provides an insight into medieval Islamic aesthetics and particularly its concern with the importance of colour, light and wonderment, their generation, and how they are gazed upon contemplatively in art and architecture. Descriptions of architecture are drawn from a variety of sources including scientific treatises, histories, travelogues and poetry, as well as classical Arabic dictionaries. The analysisis also extended to Byzantine descriptions of Islamic muqarnas domes, thus setting it in a medieval intellectual context toshed light on the aesthetic dimension of the use of colour in buildings. Together, these descriptions of materials and experiences lead to considerations of "awe" or "wonder" that are often described in relation to particular materials. Such accounts are then compared with various material studies that suggest an inclination towards creating luminosity and that materials may have been used intentionally to elicit a particular aesthetic experience of the object.