Читать книгу Central Asian Art - Vladimir Lukonin - Страница 6

The Arab-Ata Mausoleum at Tim (Uzbekistan), dated 977, is the first type of funerary monument with portal and cupola. Its façade is emphasied by a monumental portal topped by a gracious blind arch. The principal ornamentation – brick masonry or sculpted stucco – is concentrated on the portal. Geometrical ornaments (ghirikh) begin to appear as well as the first epigraphic decorations, like the one on the façade. Central Asian people are particularly fond of ornaments. Geometrical and vegetal designs, abstract or epigraphic, cover practically everything – from the portals of the palaces to snuff-boxes. During the 10^th through the 12^th centuries, geometrical ornaments acquired a theoretical foundation, due to an astonishing impetus given in the East by mathematics and particularly by applied geometry.

From the time Central Asia was drawn into the Muslim orbit, epigraphic ornament acquired an entirely new character. The inscriptions in Arabic – of religious moral inspiration – had a definite goal. Their aesthetic effect contributed to the expansion of the Islamic dogma. But in many cases (as in the Arab-Ata Mausoleum), these inscriptions also contain historical information (dates, names, sometimes the names of the builders). The calligraphers must have written the texts with great exactitude and care for the beauty of the Arabic writing, proportions, harmony, and rhythm. During the 10^th century the architectural decoration adopted a severe style, with Kufic lettering, and during the 11^th and 12^th centuries a more pleasant and complex lettering began to appear as well as other calligraphy with more fluid lines, the naskhi.

Vault, Abdul Aziz Madrasa, 17^th century. Bukhara, Uzbekistan. (left) Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum (detail), 19^th century. Khiva, Uzbekistan. (right)

During this period local architectural schools appeared and proved their originality even in the elaboration of traditional artistic themes. The variations in the handling of volumes and the diversity of decorative solutions gave each edifice an aspect of its own.

It suffices to compare the groups of karakhan mausoleums of the 11^th and 12^th centuries at Uzgen, the Sanjar Mausoleum at Merv (mid-12^th century), the Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Mausoleum at Kunya-Urgench (12^th century), the coupled mausoleums Hodja-Machad at Saëd (12^th century), to feel all the artistic richness of the buildings of that period.

Bolo-khauz Mosque, 18^th century. Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Main façade, Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah, 17^th century. Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Portal, Turabek-Khanym Mausoleum. Kunya-Urgench, Turkmenistan.

Tilya-Kori Madrasah, 17^th century. Samarkand, Uzbekistan.