The main īwān on the south of the court is highly decorated; it offers a beautiful view of Damascus (1) through its three windows. The material is colored plaster (2). An inscription in an advanced style of Nasẖī runs around its three sides at the springing line of the barrel. It repeats over and over again the confession of faith: "Lā ʾīlāha ʾīllā Allah, Muḥammad rasūlu Allah." The floral elements between these letters are strikingly “late,” but the inscription belongs to the first and only building period.
____________
1. This view is now blocked.
2. The vault of the īwān-hall is in small stone; all its lines are outlined with bands of decorated plaster. Nearly all of this plaster reflects a restoration, as old photographs show. Michael Meinecke has convincingly argued that the restored design dates from a century after the building was completed. There is no evidence that other parts of the bīmāristān were similarly decorated.
____________
Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture III. Ars Islamica XI-XII 1946 (p. 1-71).
Terry Allen. Ayyubid Arhitecture. Solipsist Press, Occidental, California, 1999.
No comments:
Post a Comment