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Bloom, Jonathan M., Ahmed Toufiq, Stefano Carboni, Jack Soultanian, Antoine M. Wilmering, Mark D. Minor, Andrew Zawacki, and El Mostafa Hbibi (1998)
This title is out of print.
One of the most accomplished works ever created by Islamic craftsmen, the minbar from the Kutubiyya mosque, Marrakesh, was begun about 1137 in Cordoba, a center of Andalusian arts and letters. This pulpit, which had been commissioned by the last Almoravid sultan, All ibn Yusuf, for his congregational mosque, soon became renowned throughout the western Islamic lands for its great artistry and beauty. It was so prized, in fact, that when the Almohads conquered Marrakesh in 1147 and destroyed 'All's mosque, they preserved the minbar for their new mosque. In 1381, an anonymous historian called it "a monumental minbar ... of perfect accomplishment," equaled only by the one in the Great Mosque of Cordoba (destroyed in the sixteenth century).
For more than eight hundred years, this work of supreme religious, historical, and artistic significance has remained a national treasure of Morocco. Its decorative scheme, which employs intricately carved wood panels and inlaid bone decoration covering every visible surface, is both traditional (in its reliance on previous examples) and startlingly original (in its sophisticated technique and vibrant rhythmic pattern). Its influence was felt for centuries, ultimately finding expression in the intarsia technique of Renaissance Italy, of which the Gubbio Studiolo, recently reinstalled at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is an outstanding example.
This volume, the first comprehensive documentation of the minbar's structure, history, and artistic significance, derives from a joint conservation effort undertaken in the fall of 1996 by the Metropolitan Museum and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco. For nine months, a team of senior conservators from the Museum worked with their Moroccan colleagues on the delicate tasks of stabilizing, consolidating, and cleaning the minbar, with the aim of preserving it for posterity. In the process, several important discoveries were made, including an inscription giving new details about the commissioning of the minbar. Analyses conducted by the conservators also shed new light on the identification and dating of the materials used in the minbar. Now fully restored, the minbar is on permanent display in the Badic Palace in Marrakesh. Authors Jonathan M. Bloom and El Mostafa Hbibi provide a full discussion of the minbar's structure and decorative scheme. Exploring the work's art–historical significance, Stefano Carboni traces its roots back to the days of Muhammad and compares it to other important examples in the western Islamic lands. Ahmed Toufiq approaches the minbar as "the pulpit of an empire," imagining it in the days of its greatest glory. And the conservation team from the Metropolitan—Jack Soultanian, Antoine M. Wilmering, Mark D. Minor, and Andrew Zawacki—present a step-by-step account of their restoration efforts. These essays are supplemented by illustrations that document the minbar as never before. Large color images record every area of this masterwork, while details capture the carving and inlay in all their complexity. Specially commissioned drawings show the underlying structure of the minbar and the evolution of its decorative patterns.
ForewordThe Crown Prince of Morocco
Director's Foreword
Acknowledgments
The Minbar from the Kutubiyya MosqueJonathan M. Bloom
The Pulpit of an Empire: The Contemporary Political and Religious Environment of the Minbar from the Kutubiyya MosqueAhmed Toufiq
The Historical and Artistic Significance of the Minbar from the Kutubiyya MosqueStefano Carboni
The Conservation of the Minbar from the Kutubiyya MosqueJack Soultanian, Antoine M. Wilmering, Mark D. Minor, and Andrew Zawacki
The Structure and Artistic Composition of the Minbar from the Kutubiyya MosqueEl Mostafa Hbibi
Appendix: Arabic Text of the Inscriptions on the Minbar from the Kutubiyya MosqueJonathan M. Bloom
Selected Bibliography
Index
Jonathan M. Bloom is an art historian and author.
Ahmed Toufiq is Conservator, Bibliothèque Generale et Archives, Rabat.
Stefano Carboni is Assistant Curator, Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jack Soultanian and Antoine M. Wilmering are Conservators, Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mark D. Minor is a conservator in private practice.
Andrew Zawacki is Conservator, Department of Arkansas Heritage.
El Mostafa Hbibi is Architecte des Monuments Historiques et des Sites de Safi-Essaouira.
Print Titles
Allan, James W. Nishapur: Metalwork of the Early Islamic Period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982. See more
Bloom, Jonathan M., Ahmed Toufiq, Stefano Carboni, Jack Soultanian, Antoine M. Wilmering, Mark D. Minor, Andrew Zawacki, and El Mostafa Hbibi. The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. See more
Breck, Joseph and Frances Morris. The James F. Ballard Collection of Oriental Rugs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, October, 1923 See more
Campbell, Thomas P. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014.
Campbell, Thomas P. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. See more
Campbell, Thomas P. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. See more
Campbell, Thomas P. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. See more
Canby, Sheila R. The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of Kings. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. See more
Day, Florence E. "Mesopotamian manuscripts of Dioscorides." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 8, no. 9 (May, 1950). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1950. See more
Dimand, M. S. A Handbook of Mohammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. See more
Dimand, Maurice Sven. "A Saljuk Incense Burner." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 10, no. 5 (January, 1952). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1952. See more
Dimand, Maurice Sven. "An Enameled-Glass Bottle of the Mamluk Period." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 3, no. 3 (November, 1944). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. See more
Dimand, Maurice Sven. "Saljuk Bronzes From Khurasan." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 4, no. 3 (November, 1945). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1945. See more
Dimand, Maurice Sven. Persian Miniatures: A Picture Book. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1940 See more
Ettinghausen, Richard. "Islamic Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 33, no. 1 (Spring, 1975). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. See more
Ettinghausen, Richard. "The Flowering of Seljuq Art." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 3 (1970). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970. See more
Galitz, Kathryn Calley. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 2016 See more
Jenkins, Marilyn. "Islamic Glass: A Brief History." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 44, no. 2 (Autumn, 1986). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. See more
Jenkins, Marilyn. "Muslim: An Early Fatimid Ceramist." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 26, no. 9 (May, 1968). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968. See more
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. Raqqa Revisted: Ceramics of Ayyubid Syria. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006. See more
Kern, Karen M., Yael Rosenfield, Federico Carò, and Nobuko Shibayama. "The Sacred and the Modern: The History, Conservation, and Science of the Madina Sitārah": Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 52 (2017). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. See more
Knauer, Elfriede Regina. "Marble Jar-Stands from Egypt." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 14 (1979). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. See more
Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni, eds., with essays by Morris Rossabi, Charles Melville, James C. Y. Watt, Tomoko Masuya, Sheila Blair, Robert Hillenbrand, Sarah Bertalan, John Hirx, Marco Leona, Pieter Meyers, Linda Komaroff, and Stefano Carboni. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. See more
Komaroff, Linda. "Pen-Case and Candlestick: Two Sources for the Development of Persian Inlaid Metalwork." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 23 (1988). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988. See more
Pease, Murray. "Two Bowls In One." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 16, no. 8 (April, 1958). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1958. See more
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Iranian Expedition, 1938-1940." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 37, no. 4 (April, 1942). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1942.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Part 2: The Iranian Expedition 1937. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 33, no. 12 (November, 1938). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1938.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Part 2: the Iranian Expedition, 1936. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 32, no. 10 (October, 1937). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1937.
Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle. "Chessmen and Chess." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 1, no. 9 (May, 1943). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1943. See more
Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle. "Fashion and Technique in Persian Pottery." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 6, no. 3 (November, 1947). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1947. See more
Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle. "Life in Early Nishapur." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 9, no. 2 (October, 1950). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1950. See more
Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle. "The Glazed Pottery of Nishapur and Samarkand." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 20, no. 3 (November, 1961). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1961. See more
Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle. "The Kilns of Nishapur." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 17, no. 9 (May, 1959). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1959. See more
Online Titles
"The Art of the Ayyubid Period (ca. 1171–1260)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
"The Art of the Fatimid Period (909–1171)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
"The Art of the Ilkhanid Period (1256–1353)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
"The Art of the Mamluk Period (1250–1517)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
"The Art of the Seljuq Period in Anatolia (1081–1307)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
"The Art of the Seljuqs of Iran (ca. 1040–1157)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Courtly Art of the Ilkhanids." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Folios from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Folios from the Jami' al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Takht-i Sulayman and Tile Work in the Ilkhanid Period." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "The Art of the Book in the Ilkhanid Period." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "The Mongolian Tent in the Ilkhanid Period." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "The Religious Arts under the Ilkhanids." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Department of Islamic Art. "The Art of the Almoravid and Almohad Periods (ca. 1062–1269)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Department of Islamic Art. "The Art of the Nasrid Period (1232–1492)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Ekhtiar, Maryam and Julia Cohen. "Early Qur'ans (8th–early 13th centuries)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Rugiadi, Martina. "Poetic License." 82nd & Fifth. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013. See more
Sardar, Marika. "Islamic Art of the Deccan." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Williams, Elizabeth. "Baths and Bathing Culture in the Middle East: The Hammam." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano, and David Whitehouse, with contributions by Robert H. Brill and William Gudenrath. Glass of the Sultans. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. See more
Carboni, Stefano, and Tomoko Masuya. Persian Tiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. See more
Carboni, Stefano. "Ars Vitraria: Glass in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 59, no. 1 (Summer, 2001). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. See more
Carboni, Stefano. Following the Stars: Images of the Zodiac in Islamic Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. See more
Diba, Layla S., with contributions by Stefano Carboni and Jean-François de Lapérouse. Turkmen Jewelry: Silver Ornaments from the Marshall and Marilyn Wolf Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. See more
Houghton, James R., Katherine Baetjer, Dorothea Arnold, Joan Aruz, Carlos A. Picon, Peter Barnet, Everett Fahy, Keith Christiansen, Walter Liedtke, Colta Ives, George R. Goldner, Ian Wardropper, Thomas P. Campbell, Dita Amory, Laurence B. Kanter, Morrison H. Heckscher, J. Kenneth Moore, Hilde Limondjian, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Donald J. La Rocca, Maxwell K. Hearn, James C. Y. Watt, Stefano Carboni, Julie Jones, Alisa LaGamma, Eric Kjellgren, Virginia-Lee Webb, Gary Tinterow, Malcolm Daniel, Harold Koda, and John P. O'Neill. Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977–2008. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. See more
Swietochowski, Marie Lukens, and Stefano Carboni, with essays by A. H. Morton and Tomoko Masuya. Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images: Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "A New Visual Language Transmitted Across Asia." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Blown Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Cut and Engraved Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Enameled and Gilded Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Glass with Mold-Blown Decoration from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Hot-worked Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Mosaic Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "Stained, or Luster-Painted Glass from Islamic Lands." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Qamar Adamjee. "The Legacy of Genghis Khan." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Trinita Kennedy. "Commercial Exchange, Diplomacy, and Religious Difference between Venice and the Islamic world." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Trinita Kennedy. "Islamic Art and Culture: the Venetian Perspective." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Trinita Kennedy. "Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Carboni, Stefano and Trinita Kennedy. "Venice's Principal Muslim Trading Partners: the Mamluks, the Ottomans, and the Safavids." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. See more
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Lisbeth, and Jack Soultanian, with contributions by Richard Y. Tayar. Italian Medieval Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. See more
Gill, Kathryn. "The Conservation of the Seehof Furniture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 25 (1990). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990. See more
Riccardelli, Carolyn, Jack Soultanian, Michael Morris, Lawrence Becker, George Wheeler, and Ronald Street. "The Treatment of Tullio Lombardo’s Adam: A New Approach to the Conservation of Monumental Marble Sculpture" Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 49 (2014). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 15, 2014. See more
Wilmering, Antoine M. The Gubbio Studiolo and Its Conservation. Vol. 2, Italian Renaissance Intarsia and the Conservation of the Gubbio Studiolo. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. See more