El-Bîrûnî ve İlhanlı Dönemi Minyatürü

Year 2024, Volume: 18 Issue: 1, 157 - 162, 30.06.2024

Islam Issa

https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1486242

Abstract

This essay provides a detailed study of an Ilkhanid miniature of Adam and Eve from 1307/08. The story of Adam and Eve has captured the imaginations of countless artists over centuries. Islamic tradition does not have the religious, figural art culture of its Christian counterpart, and images of Adam and Eve present further issues due to their nudity. The miniature in question is an isolated example which has been presented under the banner of ‘Islamic art’ in David Talbot Rice’s landmark study Islamic Art (1965). In the picture, Adam and Eve are both naked, though Eve covers her private area with one hand. This essay proves that this image, based on al-Birūnī’s Chronology of Ancient Nations (c. 1000) is not a straightforward exemplification of Islamic art for several reasons, including details of its materiality, the timing of its composition, and the various influences on its style and content.

Keywords

Ilkhanid, al-Biruni, Adem ve Havva, İslam Sanatı

Uncovering ‘Islamic Art’: al-Birūnī and the Ilkhanid Miniatures

Abstract

This essay provides a detailed study of an Ilkhanid miniature of Adam and Eve from 1307/08. The story of Adam and Eve has captured the imaginations of countless artists over centuries. Islamic tradition does not have the religious, figural art culture of its Christian counterpart, and images of Adam and Eve present further issues due to their nudity. The miniature in question is an isolated example which has been presented under the banner of ‘Islamic art’ in David Talbot Rice’s landmark study Islamic Art (1965). In the picture, Adam and Eve are both naked, though Eve covers her private area with one hand. This essay proves that this image, based on al-Birūnī’s Chronology of Ancient Nations (c. 1000) is not a straightforward exemplification of Islamic art for several reasons, including details of its materiality, the timing of its composition, and the various influences on its style and content.

Keywords

Ilkhanid, Islamic Art, al-Biruni, Adam, Eve

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