Читать книгу Art of Islam - Gaston Migeon - Страница 24

While stalactites are often nothing but relatively complex brick squinches, they can be remarkably developed. The use of stalactites in construction was not restricted to corbels, arches and cornices. They were also used to make entire vaults. Upon becoming a common motif in decoration, stalactites were used indiscriminately; they decorated interior arches, formed cornices, capitals, and even the crowns of minarets, and when this vault component was used in structural timber works, it lost its characteristic successive squinches and resembled juxtaposed prisms with flat surfaces. They were painted and gilded, regardless of whether they were made of wood or plaster. Finally, when a creative artist thought of decorating them with small pieces of glass, tinned in a way as to form some sort of glowing crystallisations which reflected light from every angle and appeared invisible, they invented one of the most elegant and original components of Persian architecture.