The Myth of Aniconism

The Myth of Aniconism

David Freedburg uses the phrase “the myth of aniconism.” Analyze this in reference to Islamic visual culture.

Aniconism refers to avoiding the use of visual images of supernatural beings in some cultures, particularly various types of Islamic art. Some religions prohibit the application of these images, while others embrace religious artwork completely. In Islamic culture, most of the prohibited images imitate God, prophets, Muhammad, and his relatives. Thus, it illustrates why the Islamic act dominates the Islamic geometric structures. More so, the Islamic culture bans the application of imitating images because they believe it is committing idolatry. In this case, idolatry refers to adoring idol gods, which is erroneous. David Freedberg applies the phrase ‘the myth of aniconism’ to demonstrate that the application of images continues to occur regardless of its prohibition in Islam.

Islamic aniconism roots in the ban on idolatry and the perspective that the creation of natural and supernatural beings is from the privilege of God. However, the Quran does not overtly ban the visual representation of living beings. It uses terms such as “musawwir,” meaning the maker of things, as God’s description. Moreover, the sayings referred to Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, have clear prohibitions on images of living beings (Rosen et al. 449). This ruling challenges artists to breathe life into the images, which threatens them with serious discipline on Judgement Day. Seemingly, Muslims interpret aniconism differently in different periods and locations. In essence, Islamic religious artwork is characterized by the lack of figures and the extensive application of symmetrical, calligraphic, and intellectual floral designs.

Freedberg claims that aniconism is the belief that particular cultures disregard religious images. However, he opposes this understanding by illustrating that Islamic culture has numerous kinds of images found in mosques, documents, homesteads, and personal items. For instance, Muhammad and other figures’ representations, with their faces hidden, are retrieved in some documents from places such as east of Anatolia. These images refer to the narrative and not to invade the Islamic ban on idolatry (Freedberg). In secular Muslim artwork, the drawing of human and animal beings historically gained popularity in almost all Islamic cultures. This flourish of images was partly because of contradicting religious thoughts and stylizing figures in images, which emerged an assortment of decorative figural schemes.

The depiction of living beings in Muslim artwork is not a contemporary wonder or due to emerging technology, personality trend, or Westernization. Paintings and reprieves of living beings decorated fortresses of the Umayyad period, such as the Mshatta Façade. Furthermore, figurative miniatures in manuscripts emerge later in Islamic regions but minimally in Arabic-speaking countries. In essence, the human figure is core to the Ottoman and Persian traditions and paintings since it represents the attractiveness of Muslim artwork (Rosen et al. 449). From the 13^th to the 17^th era, illustrations of Muhammad and other prophets such as Ibrahim, Isa, and Adem became popular in smeared manuscripts from Turkey and Persia. Moreover, extreme rarities are shown in the Quran, referring to Muhammad. Thus, the ban on the representation of God is acknowledged to remain absolute in all periods.

David Freedberg argument demonstrates that depending on the place of Muslim communities referred to, noteworthy variances feature the use of aniconism. Some of the factors considered include the nation, religious alignment, intent of politics, common beliefs, individual advantages, and the contrast between realism and discourse (Freedberg). The medieval Islamic artist used numerous ways to depict sensitive individuals like Muhammad and his relatives. Images show his body but conceal the face. Calligraphy is common in the Muslim realm and demonstrates figurative aspects. Different calligraphy designs evolved to satisfy the purpose, similar to representative art.

In the contemporary world, the Islamic aniconic concept cohabits with the daily activities of Muslims crammed with images. For example, television and prints significantly influence public perceptions on a global scale. Furthermore, drawings of secular and religious figures exist on banknotes and on the streets (Freedberg). More so, anthropomorphic statues existing in public locations are established in most Islamic nations, art education institutions schooling sculptors and artists. In Egypt, it is stylish to celebrate and market the coming of pilgrims from Mecca by drawing on their house walls.

Nevertheless, preventing idolatry is the main reason for restrictions on drawings, standing sculptures, and religious cult paintings. Islam attempts to train individuals to embrace themselves. It shows that rather than a man reflecting his soul to the external realm, he can remain in his ontological space and in servitude. Muslim art tends to restrain all factors that relate to worshiping an idol because they believe that no aspect should be an obstacle between Humans and God.

Works Cited

Freedberg, David. “Preface to the Polish Edition of” The Power of Images.” (2005).

Rosen, Aaron, and Yasser Tabbaa. “Art, aesthetics, and visual culture.” The Routledge Handbook of Muslim-Jewish Relations (2016): 449

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

ASIAN/RELSTY 271L: RELIGION AND THE ARTS; FALL 2020 PROF. AYESHA IRANI 

READING RESPONSE PAPER – 4 (RRP4)

Respond to either one of the following in 750 words:

The Myth of Aniconism

1. Professor Shaman Hatley will give a guest lecture on the subject of geometrical design and the abstract in Indian art. Write an essay on what you learnt from his
2. David Freedburg uses the phrase “the myth of aniconism.” Analyze this in reference to Islamic visual culture.

Grading Criteria

This reading response paper (RRP), is the third of five, and constitutes 5% of your final grade. All RRPs will be graded on a modified Pass/Fail basis. The grading criteria are as follows:

Satisfactory, good, or very good: A– Deficient but acceptable: C Unacceptable: F

Excellent or outstanding: A No submission: 0

Submission of Assignments

• All written work is to be uploaded as a Word document or RTF file on Blackboard. Please note that the document should be named in the following manner: Yourlastname_RRP4, i.e. if the participant’s last name is “Irani,” the file should be named:
• All assignments should be formatted in a double-spaced, standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman, with one-inch
• The word count should be provided at the end of the
• All assignments will be screened via SafeAssign—Blackboard’s plagiarism detection