THE MAMLŪK IMPACT ON VENETIAN RENAISSANCE PAINTING 648-923 A.H. / 1250-1517 A.D.
نيفين محمد فاروق راتب;
Abstract
This study was set out to explore the Mamlūk impact on Venetian painting; an impact that was not merely limited to the adoption of a few Mamlūk artifacts, but saw the representation of the whole Mamlūk world as well. In an attempt to seek the hidden qualities that gave rise to the Mamlūk phenomenon this study has explored the artistic, political, commercial, cultural, and social Venetian conditions that helped transmit the Mamlūk mode to Renaissance paintings.
After surveying Venetian paintings showing the Mamlūk impact two important points need to be stressed; one concerns the time when such a phenomenon prevailed in Venice; and the other takes into consideration the location these paintings were originally found. With Venice’s importation of luxury silk from the East Mediterranean starting around mid-7th A.H. / mid-13th century A.D, new interests prevailed. Trade with the Mamlūks, who then controlled the biblical world, gave an “aura of sacred authenticity” to their imported goods and cultural elements. Venetian artists incorporated Mamlūk artifacts such as textiles, metalwork, ceramics, glass, woodwork, musical instruments, and bookbinding in their paintings, which revealed Venice’s growing interest in these luxury objects. The first Venetian work mentioned in this study dates to the mid-8th A.H. / mid-14th century A.D. (Plate I) showing a variety of Mamlūk artifacts.
On the other hand, while the importation of Mamlūk luxury products began since the beginning of Mamlūk rule these artifacts were represented almost a century later with the development of the new artistic traditions of Renaissance art inside Venice. Almost another century after the adoption of Mamlūk artifacts in paintings, in the last decade of the 9th A.H. / 15th century A.D., the Mamlūk world was finally represented in Venetian narrative paintings. Paintings showing groups of Mamlūk figures set within Mamlūk lands were executed in the 1490’s A.D. and continued being painted until the fall of the Mamlūk Sultanate. This was the time when Mamlūk presence was most pronounced in Venetian painting; a phenomenon that could be explained by factors coming from within and from without. It was due to both local developments in Venetian painting, and outer elements as a result of the intensity of Venetian-Mamlūk relations that the Mamlūk world was represented in Venetian paintings at that time.
After surveying Venetian paintings showing the Mamlūk impact two important points need to be stressed; one concerns the time when such a phenomenon prevailed in Venice; and the other takes into consideration the location these paintings were originally found. With Venice’s importation of luxury silk from the East Mediterranean starting around mid-7th A.H. / mid-13th century A.D, new interests prevailed. Trade with the Mamlūks, who then controlled the biblical world, gave an “aura of sacred authenticity” to their imported goods and cultural elements. Venetian artists incorporated Mamlūk artifacts such as textiles, metalwork, ceramics, glass, woodwork, musical instruments, and bookbinding in their paintings, which revealed Venice’s growing interest in these luxury objects. The first Venetian work mentioned in this study dates to the mid-8th A.H. / mid-14th century A.D. (Plate I) showing a variety of Mamlūk artifacts.
On the other hand, while the importation of Mamlūk luxury products began since the beginning of Mamlūk rule these artifacts were represented almost a century later with the development of the new artistic traditions of Renaissance art inside Venice. Almost another century after the adoption of Mamlūk artifacts in paintings, in the last decade of the 9th A.H. / 15th century A.D., the Mamlūk world was finally represented in Venetian narrative paintings. Paintings showing groups of Mamlūk figures set within Mamlūk lands were executed in the 1490’s A.D. and continued being painted until the fall of the Mamlūk Sultanate. This was the time when Mamlūk presence was most pronounced in Venetian painting; a phenomenon that could be explained by factors coming from within and from without. It was due to both local developments in Venetian painting, and outer elements as a result of the intensity of Venetian-Mamlūk relations that the Mamlūk world was represented in Venetian paintings at that time.
Other data
| Title | THE MAMLŪK IMPACT ON VENETIAN RENAISSANCE PAINTING 648-923 A.H. / 1250-1517 A.D. | Other Titles | أثر المماليك على تصاوير عصر النهضة بمدينة البندقية 648-923 هـ / 1250 – 1517م | Authors | نيفين محمد فاروق راتب | Issue Date | 2015 |
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