Touching Mecca and Medina: The Dalā’il al-Khayrāt and Devotional Practices Sabiha Göloğlu Synopsis: This presentation explores a double-page painting of Mecca and Medina included in a late eighteenth-century Ottoman copy of the renowned prayer book entitled Dala’il al-Khayrat (Proofs of Good Deeds). This painting is important because it bears traces of devotional engagement with the images…
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The Khanqah of Baybars al-Jashinkir, 1306-1310
The Khanqah of Baybars al-Jashinkir, 1306-1310 Bernard O’Kane Synopsis: This presentation discusses the complex of Baybars al-Jashinkir (1309), a Cairene Mamluk monument that comprises a khanqah (Sufi convent) and mausoleum. It situates it within its historical context and compares it with other Mamluk monuments, highlighting features that are both typical and unique (such as its plan).…
İbrahim Müteferrika and the First Printed Books of the Islamic World
İbrahim Müteferrika and the First Printed Books of the Islamic World Yasemin Gencer Synopsis: This presentation video offers an overview of the first Islamic incunabula printed at the Müteferrika press in the first half of the eighteenth century. A chronological survey of their visual attributes reveals the Ottoman publisher’s early experimentations with the new medium. …
Painting the Royal Hunt in India: A Prince on Horseback Hunting a Lion
Painting the Royal Hunt in India: A Prince on Horseback Hunting a Lion Rachel Parikh Synopsis: The royal hunt was more than just a popular pastime amongst South Asia’s royalty and elite. The sport was used as means to showcase their privilege, justify their rule or future rule, establish their legitimacy, and exhibit their inherent…
Islamic Arms and Armor: Dhu’l Fiqar, ʿAli’s Miraculous Sword
Islamic Arms and Armor: Dhu’l Fiqar, ʿAli’s Miraculous Sword Rachel Parikh Synopsis: According to legend, during the Battle of Uhud against the Meccans in 625, the Prophet Muḥammad presented Dhu’l Fiqar, a bifurcated sword imbued with preternatural powers to ‘Ali. The sword is arguably the most important weapon in the Islamic world, and is regarded…
Harvard Fine Arts Library’s Stuart Cary Welch Islamic and South Asian Photograph Collection
Harvard Fine Arts Library’s Stuart Cary Welch Islamic and South Asian Photograph Collection Amanda Hannoosh Steinberg Synopsis: This short video introduces the Harvard Fine Arts Library’s Stuart Cary Welch Islamic and South Asian Photograph Collection, which comprises over 60,000 of the noted curator’s research and teaching slides. The collection is in the process of being…
Water and Sound in Islamic Architecture
Water and Sound in Islamic Architecture Patricia Blessing Synopsis: This talk examines the presence and meaning of sound and water in pre-modern Islamic architecture. Examples include palaces, religious spaces, and a hospital to present a diverse picture of the ways in which water is present within architecture and human-made landscapes. The sound of water emerges…
George Floyd in Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan: Visual Commentaries in Islamic Lands
George Floyd in Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan: Visual Commentaries in Islamic Lands Christiane Gruber Synopsis: George Floyd was killed by an American police officer in May 2020. Although an individual who lived his own life, he became a larger visual metaphor and embodiment for discrimination and death that extended across the world, touching a nerve…
A Safavid Painting of the Prophet Muhammad’s Miʿraj
A Safavid Painting of the Prophet Muhammad’s Miʿraj Christiane Gruber Synopsis: This presentation explores a 16th-century Persian manuscript painting that depicts the Prophet Muhammad’s celestial ascension (mi’raj). It focuses in particular on the Prophet’s facial veil and his flaming aureole as well as their relationship to metaphorical expressions as found in Persian Sufi poetry. It…