Influence of the Christian East and West on Islamic Art & Architecture

The art and architecture of Islam adapted several aspects of Christian art and architecture into their culture to create their own distinctive Islamic culture and further their own political ambitions. Islamic artists drew inspiration from, and adapted, aspects of art and architecture of the Christian East and West, especially taking ideas about the depiction of God, the depiction of important religious figures and the use of “houses of God” to further political obedience. The depiction of figures which were pertinent to the religion and the creation of magnificent places of worship all bore some inspiration from Christian empires of the East and West, but the Muslims adapted all of these aspects of their art and architecture and combined them with completely distinct aspects of Islamic culture and religion to create a unique theme across much of Islamic art and architecture.

How to depict the glory of God remained an essential question in Christian and Islamic art, and although Islamic art took influence from Christian art in its disdain for directly depicting God, Islamic artists developed a unique style in how they allowed onlookers to achieve spiritual connection with God. Both the Christian East and the Christian West strongly opposed any depiction of God’s face, and generally any depiction of God was relatively rare. Many churches of the Christian East relied on symbols in their works such as golden backgrounds to depict God’s presence or will. Since many churches were supposed to allow people to experience a form of connection with God, churches of the Byzantine empire often used a specific iconography to allow people to have this heavenly feeling in the “house of God.” As can be seen in the golden backgrounds of the mosaics at San Vitale, the mosaics lent a heavenly and paradise-like feeling to the church. For example, the mosaic of Theodora truly exemplifies a heavenly feel. In addition to the sparkling golden background in the mosaic, Theodora wears an elaborate and beautiful headdress, and the setting seems to be paradise-like. Although God was not depicted in this and many other Byzantine mosaics, the beauty of the surroundings and the clothing of the figures all came together to create a heavenly atmosphere and exemplify God’s presence. Through the use of this carefully crafted iconography, the Byzantine churches were able to make people feel like they had entered a paradise-like house of God, in which they seemed to be able to feel God’s presence despite his absence in figure from the whole church. The Christian West also refrained from depicting God, but also created feelings of Godly presence in art through aspects such as plainness, serenity and gold (a color which was often connotated with paradise). In the page for Saint Matthew in the Coronation Gospels, we can clearly see how these aspects of iconography to achieve a Godlike feeling through art took hold. Since God himself could not be depicted, the Christian West created peaceful surroundings for Saint Matthew, which evoke feelings of paradise and of God. Similarly, the use of a large golden halo, a golden chair, and a golden table on which Saint Matthew writes all combine as aspects in giving the painting a Godlike nature. Together, both Eastern and Western Christian art show that it is possible to evoke feelings of paradise and heaven in paintings and mosaics, and thereby show the glory of God, not through depicting God himself but instead by using an iconography including serene settings and golden colors. While the Islamic religion did avoid depicting God like the Christians and also similarly tried to achieve a Godlike atmosphere through its art, it differed greatly from Christian art in how it attempted to recreate sensations of Godly connection. Sultan-Muhammad’s painting of the Gayumars clearly portrays the method used by Islamic artists in depicting God. Although, like Christians, the painting of the Gayumars does not directly depict God, it includes a highly idealized fairy-like setting with blossoming trees, tamed animals and a beautiful setting. Looking at this painting is much like looking into paradise, since the king seems to be in a heaven-like setting, as the very upbeat colors in the painting suggested. This depiction of the “old days” is essentially a reflection back into God’s world, and is a way of expressing God’s powers and paradise and heaven. Although the Islamic way of expressing connection with God and God’s powers was also, like in Christian art, without depicting God himself, Islamic art had created its own iconographical style of depicting the glory of God. Whilst the Eastern and Western Christians largely relied on bold areas of gold color and very simple but peaceful settings, Islamic art instead implements the many complexities and intricacies into its depictions in order to show the glory of God’s world, and thereby the glory of God himself.

In their creation of imagery relating to holy figures, Islamic artists drew inspiration from the overall style of the depiction of human figures from Byzantine and Western Christian art but adapted this style in order to meet the needs of their specific beliefs in regards to God and brought in their own unique aspects into their developing artistic style. The page depicting Jesus’ ascension in the Byzantine Rossano Gospels shows a crowd of people (inclusive of Mary) standing below Jesus, who ascends in a mandorla flocked by angels. Jesus (the key holy figure in this painting), Mary and all of Jesus’ apostles are shown with the characteristic golden haloes of Christian art. Another key aspect of this style is that all of the figures – inclusive of those with haloes – have their heads clearly showing and seem to show emotions. Some of Jesus’ apostles seem to weep, there is a sad seriousness to Mary’s face, and Jesus himself seems calm and relaxed (and possibly even happy) as he ascends in this image. Finally, gestures can be seen in all of the members of the painting, such as Jesus who waves his hand, Mary who holds her hands open, and Jesus’ apostles who raise their hands up to point to Jesus’ ascension or bring their hands to their faces to wipe away their tears. Several aspects of the unique Byzantine style of depicting important holy figures like Jesus, his apostles and Mary would be used by Islamic artists later down the line in paintings and mosaics they created which included the Prophet Muhammad. Western Christians also had a similar style to the Byzantines in their depiction of holy figures such as Christ, although their methods and style differed in several ways. In the panel in which Otto I presents the Magdeburg Cathedral to Christ from the doors at Saint Michael’s Church in Hildesheim, Christ sits in the center of the panel and is surrounded by other important holy figures. Christ and other saints all have a halo behind them, but, unlike the Byzantine style, these halos have been left without color, and the halo behind Christ has a cross which protrudes from the circular halo. In this relief, the faces of each of the figures seem to be relatively devoid of emotions, but Jesus’ hand gesture towards the model of the Magdeburg cathedral indicates that he is grateful for the creation of the church. One of the key aspects of the panel figure depictions is the use of hierarchy of scale. Using different scales for the different people which were depicted, the relief artist was able to show the relative importance (in this case, from a religious perspective) of the different people in the scene. Jesus is depicted as being the tallest in the whole scene, which indicates that he is also the most important, kindest and most pious of everyone featured. Next in size come the saints, who are not as large as Jesus but not as small as Otto I, which indicates that they are next in importance and religious intensity to Jesus. Finally, Otto I is depicted as a small child, with this imagery used as a symbol of his little importance in comparison to Christ. The fact that someone like Otto I – who the people knew had constructed magnificent cathedrals such as the one at Magdeburg – was depicted as being so small and insignificant compared to Christ truly helped people understand and appreciate the importance, power and goodness of Jesus himself by basing Jesus’ greatness on a comparison with the greatness of one of the key rulers of the Ottonian Empire. Islamic depictions of their key religious figure, such as the Prophet Muhammad, integrated aspects of both Eastern and Western Christian stylistic attributes whilst using their own religious beliefs to develop their own elements of the distinctive resulting mixture of styles. This stylistic mix is very visible in Bihzad’s illustration of Joseph’s seduction by Potiphar’s wife in Sadi’s Bustan. Drawing inspiration from the haloes of the Christian East and West, and the golden coloring of these haloes from the Byzantine empire, the Islamic artists transformed this unique artistic tradition to become a flame which encircled the head. As can be seen around Joseph’s head on the page of Joseph’s seduction in Sadi’s Bustan, the flame was usually relatively small and much like a halo in that it only appeared among the most virtuous people in the Islamic faith (and the key figures of Judaism and Christianity, which Islam believes it follows on from). The flame which encircles Joseph’s head is used much like a halo in Islamic art and is always seen around figures such as the Prophet Muhammad. In addition to transforming the halo to a small fire in Islamic art, however, Islamic artists completely removed the faces of figures which had a flame around their head. In Muslim religion, it was vital that people prayed to God and not to prophets or important religious figures like Jesus and Joseph. Because of this, the faces were rendered without any facial features (which rendered them devoid of eyes, a mouth, a nose and other features) to make sure that people only prayed to God and did not begin to worship what the Muslims believed to be God’s messengers but not replacements for God. This philosophy greatly differed from Christianity, in which the faces of Jesus, Mary and other important figures are seen across art and these religious figures are often also prayed to. In the illustration of Joseph’s seduction, the artistic style used in creating the garments which Joseph wears as well as his movements and gestures bear much resemblance to Christian art. As in the Byzantine Rossano Gospels, the key religious figure in the painting, who in this case is Joseph, wears very simple garments. In the illustration of his seduction, Joseph has a relatively plain green outfit with only some small golden, black and white lines, which draws emphasis to his gestures as he attempts to flee from Potiphar’s wife. Joseph’s gestures also draw inspiration from the relatively exaggerated gestures used in both art of the Christian East and West. In each of these styles, the exaggerated gestures of the central figure act to stand out for the onlooker and allow the onlooker to notice something. In the panel from Hildesheim, Jesus’ hand gesture draws attention to the new church which has been built by Otto I, in the Rossano Gospel page Jesus’ hand draws attention to the fact that he is departing, and in the Islamic page depicting Joseph’s seduction Joseph’s hand indicates his desperate attempt to flee from Potiphar’s wife as he wildly gesticulates to get away from her. Finally, hierarchy of scale used in western Christian art (such as the panel from Hildesheim) exerted a great influence on Muslim art. In order to represent the higher importance and virtue of certain people in their paintings, such as Joseph in the image of his seduction, the artist painted him to be much larger than Potiphar’s wife, which draws important influence from the technique of hierarchy of scale. It is likely that, just as Jesus was the largest figure in the Hildesheim panel to demonstrate his importance and virtue, Joseph was depicted as being larger to demonstrate his moral superiority and virtue. The representation of important religious leaders in Islamic art bore much in common and had much inspiration in terms of its style from previous Eastern and Western Christian art, but it developed a distinctive nature due to the tenets of Islam which influenced the addition of other stylistic features, such as the use of a flame around the heads of important prophets and religious figures.

The construction of grand and magnificent houses of worship (and, as many Christians and Muslims believed, houses of God) in Islam had deep roots in the Eastern Christian architecture, and both the Islamic and Byzantine architects had similar goals in mind regarding empire expansion and stability, which they hoped to achieve partly through obedience on the part of the people. The overall grand design of Byzantine churches is exemplified by the Hagia Sophia in modern-day Constantinople. Through the use of a sequence of domes which come together to a central dome of 108 feet in diameter, the architects who designed the Hagia Sophia aimed to emulate what a heaven-like experience may feel like and give people the ability to experience this firsthand. The boundless beauty within the Hagia Sophia with its gold-covered domes allow light to beautifully reflect through the church and give the church a paradise-like quality. One key aspect which gives the Hagia Sophia its otherworldly feel is the soaring heights of its domes, which makes the people who enter the church feel a connection with the heavens. Generally, the huge size of the Hagia Sophia, both from a point of view of size and height, helps in making the individual feel insignificant in the home of God. The huge surroundings seem to dwarf people who enter, who are suddenly only a tiny speck within this massive church. In creating these spectacular, beautiful, and massive houses of worship like the Hagia Sophia, Byzantine rulers were able to leave subjects in awe and keep them as dutiful worshippers and devout religious followers. As with almost all ancient civilizations, the lack of separation between church and state (the Byzantine emperor played a role which cannot be overstated as a patron of religious art and architecture) helped in pushing people to follow rules within society and be obedient towards the emperor. In many ways, the creation of a paradise-like setting in churches like the Hagia Sophia made people aim to also go to heaven, so this pushed them to show obedience and thereby limited the need for military control over citizens. In turn, the lack of required resources to manage the subjects within the empire allowed Byzantine emperors like Justinian to focus their efforts on rapid expansion of their empires, which could be united through religious intensity and fervor. Sinan’s mosque of Selim II at Edirne perfectly shows the influence of Byzantine church design and purpose on the Islamic religious architecture. As in the Hagia Sophia, the mosque of Selim II is crowned in the center by a great dome which is the highest point in the mosque (aside from the minarets). From each side of the great dome, smaller domes cascade down to lower and lower levels with a plan bearing much resemblance to the Byzantine Hagia Sophia. Despite the many external similarities, Sinan was able to create a very unique design for his mosque, which continued along a line of mosques which were influenced by Byzantine church architecture but still had many original Islamic components. One key difference (which is also noticed in art) between the Hagia Sophia and the Mosque of Selim II is that the internal coloring of the dome in the Byzantine church is a simple and bold gold throughout, whereas the ceiling of the Mosque of Selim II is covered with ornate and intricate abstract designs. In addition, architectural aspects such as horseshoe arches which support the dome in the Mosque of Selim II are unique to Islamic architecture and show the mix of integration from other cultures and their own ideas which was central to Islamic architecture. Finally, an immediately noticeable difference in the design of the two religious buildings is that the Mosque of Selim II includes minarets. Although the Hagia Sophia now bears minarets due to its conversion to a mosque, at the time of the Byzantine empire these additions were nonexistent, and minarets again portray a highly unique aspect of Islamic mosque architecture. Although the design of Islamic mosques such as that of Selim II has taken influence from Christian churches (especially those of the East), they had developed their own distinctive design style which differentiated them easily. Although the methods by which the two religious buildings achieved awe may have differed, however, both do not fail to still impress many visitors. As with Byzantine churches like the Hagia Sophia, the mosque of Selim II was able to recreate a paradise-like experience for visitors, and its size also helped in dwarfing the individual. Due to the dual role which caliphs played as both religious and political leaders, people’s worship and obedience to the religion was closely linked with their obedience to the rules set down by the government. In hopes of being devout religious followers and going to heaven, many people therefore also became obedient in society, which allowed for the rapid advance in political goals such as Ottoman expansion. Powered by the low levels of disobedience from society, the Ottomans were able to focus their efforts on quickly growing their empire. As with the Byzantines, the construction of these grand houses of worship ultimately allowed for imperial unity through religious fervor, stability within the empire, and territorial expansion. Islamic mosques took many ideas and styles from the architecture of churches of the Christian East especially, whilst also adapting the mosques to tie them into their beliefs and create a unique Islamic style, and similarly used grand structures to advance political goals such as territorial expansion.

Together, the art and architecture of the Christian West, Byzantine empire and original ideas of Islamic artists and architects combined perfectly in Islamic art and architecture to produce a stunning range of magnificent buildings and artworks. The mix of Christian influence and original Islamic thought can be observed clearly in Islamic depictions of God, depictions of holy figures and in their design of mosques. Each unique characteristic of Islamic art and architecture reflects a belief in Islamic society or a political goal, and viewing their art as an expression of these views, opinions and influences acts to give us a fuller understanding of Islamic history, culture and religion.