Constructs of Symmetry in Islamic Art

by Terry Allen         published by Solipsist Press, Occidental, California, 2009

Copyright © 2009 by Terry Allen         An electronic publication     ISBN 0-944940-09-9

Table of Contents

The Introduction, the numbered Sections, and the Appendices are provided as separate files with their own tables of contents, for quicker retrieval. This is the main Table of Contents. To navigate between sections and appendices return here.

Introduction

Section One. Types of Symmetry

Traditional Mathematical Approaches to Symmetry

Isometries

Group Theory and Tilings

Notations for Patterns

Section Two. A Different View of Symmetry

Symmetry as a Type of Similarity

Rotocenters

Examples of Two-Color Patterns

So What?

Section Three. Uses of Symmetry in Architecture

Constructs of Symmetry

Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry of Reflection in Western Islamic Architecture

The Court of the Myrtles

Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry in Arcades before the Alhambra

Tinmal

Marrakesh: First Kutubīyah Mosque

Marrakesh: Second Kutubīyah Mosque

The “T Plan” and Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry

Qayrawān: Great Mosque

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection in Western Islamic Architecture Through the Almohads

The Possibilities

Cordoba: Great Mosque

Bāb al-Wuzarā'

Mihrab, Frieze of Lobed Arches

Three Almoravid Mosques

Algiers: Great Mosque

Fās: Mosque of the Qarawiyīn

Tilimsān: Great Mosque

Marrakesh: Minaret of the Kutubīyah Mosque

Marrakesh: Qubbah al-Barūdiyīn

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection in Western Islamic Architecture Between the Almohads and the Court of the Myrtles

Fās: Madrasah al-ʿAttarīn, Qiblah Wall

Tilimsān: Mosque of Abū Madyan

The Courtyard of the Cuarto Dorado

The Court of the Lions

The Three Zones of the Courtyard Facade

Inscription Bands

Stucco Patterns

Marçais's Analysis

Western Symmetries in the Alhambra

Section Four. The Significance of Western Islamic Symmetries

Aesthetic Significance

Significance for the History of Art

Conclusion

Appendix A. Western Symmetries Outside the West

Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry of Reflection Outside the West

Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry of Reflection in Egypt

Cairo: Mausoleum of al-Shāfiʿī

Cairo: Khānaqāh of Baybars al-Jāshankīr

Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry of Reflection in the Central Islamic Lands

Baghdad: Madrasah al-Mustanṣirīyah

Diyarbakır: Great Mosque

Subsidiary Axes of Symmetry of Reflection in Persia and Central Asia

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection Outside the West

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection in Egypt

Cairo: Bāb al-Futūḥ

Cairo: Mausoleum of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphs

Cairo: Mausoleum of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection in Yemen

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection in the Central Islamic Lands

Khirbat al-Mafjar

Kayseri, Çifte Medrese

Samarqand: Madrasah of Ulugh Beg

Anatolian Saljuq Tile Mihrabs

Variation in Coördinate Detail with Reflection in Persia and Central Asia

Appendix B. Problematic and Unresolved Cases

Appendix C. Looping and Rotation

Cordoba, Great Mosque: Dome in Front of the Mihrab

Samarqand: Dome of the Mausoleum of Shād-i Mulk Aqā

Tāzā, Great Mosque: Dome in Front of the Mihrab

Appendix D. Fās: Madrasah al-ʿAttarīn, Lateral Arcades of Courtyard

Appendix E. Chirality

Appendix F. Levels of Symmetric Design in Patterns

Appendix G. Symmetry with Stretching or Compression

Irregular Distortions

Regular Distortion