Calligraphic Galleon

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Calligraphic Galleon
ArtistAbd al-Qadir Hisari
Yearc. 1766–67
MediumInk and gold on paper
Dimensions48.3 cm × 43.2 cm (19.0 in × 17.0 in)
LocationMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

The Calligraphic Galleon is an example of

Abrahamic God, likely to confer a blessing of protection on the ship. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]

Description

Background

Main article: Islamic calligraphy

Islamic World.[2] While the art form was most commonly reserved for writing or inscribing, some individual works of art were entirely made using calligraphy. Known as "calligrams",[3] these images depicted a number of subjects. One such subject was ships, with calligrams of ships being especially popular in the Ottoman Empire. Some practitioners of Sufism attached a degree of mystical importance to these works of art, which were displayed inside of ritual spaces.[1] A similar art-form—Pictorial Writing—was also prevalent in Persia.[3]

Calligraphic Galleon

The Met's galleon is done in ink-and-gold on paper. The prominently displayed ship depicted by the calligram is a galleon, a large warship famously used by the

Istanbul, Turkey.[1][5]

The calligram's creator inscribed characters representing the story of the Seven Sleepers (the Ashab al-Kahf in Arabic), a group of seven men who were given refuge in a cave by God, onto the galleon; it has been posited that such an inscription on the work was intended to protect the ship from harm, just as God protected the seven sleepers.[1] In addition, the Ottoman navy was dedicated to the Seven Sleepers, all of whose names can be seen on the galleon's hull and deck.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Calligraphic Galleon". www.metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  2. ^ Mamoun Sakkal (1993). "The Art of Arabic Calligraphy, a brief history".
  3. ^ a b Blair, Sheila S. Islamic Calligraphy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006. pp. 449–56, 506–8, 558–59, ill. fig. 10.15.
  4. ISBN 978-1-59797-291-8
    .
  5. ^ Ekhtiar, Maryam, Sheila R. Canby, Navina Haidar, and Priscilla P. Soucek, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 206, pp. 296–97, ill. p. 297.
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