Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

, a shamsa (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: شمسه ''shamseh'',

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: شمسة ''shums'') is an intricately decorated rosette or medallion which is used in many contexts, including manuscripts, carpets, ornamental metalwork and architectural decoration such as the underside of domes. It can take a number of overall shapes, from circles to stars. The name means "little sun", as a diminutive of ''shams'', the

word meaning "sun",Welch, 236 and the work is often stylised as a sunburst. It is characterized by the recurrent motifs present in Islamic art, such as the use of geometrical floral or vegetal forms in a repetitive design known as an

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

. The arabesque is often used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of God, and as with other patterns and forms of Islamic art, the shamsa also has a religious significance, such as symbolizing the unity of God. Shamsa is also a female first name in Arabic and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Shamsa Al Maktoum Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, شمسة بنت محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, ''Shamsā bint Muḥammad bin Rāshid al-Maktūm''; born 15 August 1981) is an Emirati princess and a member of the Dubai ruling f ...

Shamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouei Sheikha Shamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouei ( ar, الشيخة شمسة بـنت سهيل المزروعي) is the widow of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. Family She is the mother of: * Sheikh Sultan * ...

and Shamsa Ali.

Arts of the book

In Persian manuscripts, the first page traditionally consisted of an oval rosette or medallion, above and below which there would sometimes be ornamented

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

s and

palmette The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...

s. The shamsa took a number of symmetric forms, such as an eight or twelve pointed star, with arabesque or floral motifs. The central panel contained an inscription, which might be the owner of the manuscript, the author, the title of the work, or sometimes a dedication. Small shamsas also occurred in the margins of the text, a number in the centre indicating the passing of five or ten verses. Roof hafez tomb

The shamsa is a meticulously designed painting representing many months of work by the calligrapher, who was a specifically trained master of such illuminations. Although many similar rosettes had been produced in Persian manuscripts, the Mughal shamsa differs from them in having an element of three-dimensionality and a preference for warm colouring. The example on the right shows the frontispiece to the Kevorkian Album, a ''

muraqqa A Muraqqa ( tr, Murakka, ar, مورّقة, fa, مُرَقّع) is an album in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and specimens of Islamic calligraphy, normally from several different sources, and perhaps other matter. The album ...

'' or album compiled by

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

, emperor from 1628 to 1658, when the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

reached the zenith of its cultural glory. The album contains about fifty paintings, illuminations and examples of calligraphy, mostly created under the patronage of Shah Jahan. The shamsa measures and was created around 1645. The design contains fantastic flowers, cloud bands, insects and birds. It is drawn in ink on paper and painted in opaque watercolours, and includes several shades of gold. The inscription in the central panel reads "His Majesty Shihabuddin Muhammad Shahjahan, the King, Warrior of the Faith, may God perpetuate his kingdom and sovereignty". This album is part of a collection of Islamic art held by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York. The same artist seems to have produced two comparable shamsas in another of Shah Jahan's major manuscripts, the Windsor Padshahnama. A number of similar imperial albums exist, with shamsas as frontispieces, notably in collections held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

, the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London and the

Chester Beatty Library The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...

in Dublin. This carved ivory plaque bears the signature of an otherwise unknown craftsman, Muhammad Talib Gilani. The plaque most likely comes from the cenotaph of Shah Isma'il I, which is believed to have been commissioned for his tomb in the Ardabil Shrine by his widow, Tajlu Khanum, or by his son, Shah Tahmasp. The opulent inlaid wood decoration of the cenotaph includes ivory, ebony, and strips of bone or ivory tinted in a variety of colors.

References

Bibliography

* Welch, Stuart Cary, ''India : art and culture, 1300–1900'', 1985, Metropolitan Museum of Art, {{ISBN, 9780030061141 0030061148
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Islamic art Persian art Islamic arts of the book Islamic illuminated manuscripts Mughal art Islamic calligraphy

Arts of the book

See also

References

Bibliography