FAH262H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Tetraconch, Mihrab, Decal
Document Summary
The umayyads iii: the desert palaces, the abbasids i. Last week: closed with a discussion of a mosaic built in the palace of khirbat al-mafjar, 724-743, built by al-walid. Looks si(cid:373)ila(cid:396) to the dese(cid:396)t pala(cid:272)es (cid:449)e"(cid:448)e already discussed based on an earlier classical model of the roman forum. Jericho is the context of this palace which is a small oasis town, near a spring. This water would be pumped into the bath house and had the right temperature. Scene of a large tree, gazelle grazing on the left and a lion eating a gazelle on the right. Peace and mortification juxtaposition a visual contrast intentional by the artist. Under al-walid, there is prosperity (the tree and the grazing gazelle) and the dark side (the lion killing) One interpretation: this represents the 2 sides of al-walid"s (cid:396)eign. He has prosperity under his kingdom but also represents how he is a war general (he is the lion), taking down prey.
