Colour, Light and Wonder in Islamic Art

(Paperback)

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Description

A unique investigation into the aesthetics of colour in Islamic art revealing its deeper symbolic and mystical meanings

The experience of colour in Islamic visual culture has historically been overlooked. In this new approach, Idries Trevathan examines the language of colour in Islamic art and architecture in dialogue with its aesthetic contexts, offering insights into the pre-modern Muslim experience of interpreting colour.

The seventeenth-century Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, represents one of the finest examples of colour-use on a grand scale. Here, Trevathan examines the philosophical and mystical traditions that formed the mosque s backdrop. He shows how careful combinations of colour and design proportions in Islamic patterns expresses knowledge beyond that experienced in the corporeal world, offering another language with which to know and experience God. Colour thus becomes a spiritual language, calling for a re-consideration of how we read Islamic aesthetics.

Includes 27 Colour Illustrations

Reviews

'An important contribution
to the study of Islamic art. Idries Trevathan brings out with admirable clarity
the metaphysical and cosmological meanings of colour and light beyond their
decorative function.'

SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR,
George Washington University

'Every student of Islamic
art should read this book. It brilliantly brings together pre-modern Islamic
theories on colour with contemporary theories and scholarship. Much more than
mere art history, this tour de force breaks the artificial boundaries between
disciplines. Rather, it compares the theoretical literature on colour with the
process of creating colour and the application of colour in art. Highly
recommended.'

SAMIR MAHMOUD, Assistant Professor in the Department
of Architecture & Interior Design, Lebanese
American University

Author Bio

Idries Trevathan is a curator and conservator of Islamic art collections. He regularly works on conservation projects and has conducted technical colour studies on a range of Islamic art objects, including the Malay Qur'an manuscripts and Ottoman porticoes in the grand mosque in Mecca.