Córdoba Mezquita vaulting of the Maqsura. © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro.
This special ARTscapades study afternoon with Diana Darke, well-known author and non-resident scholar at Washington DC’s Middle East Institute, explores the influence of Islamic architecture on European buildings and decoration and reveals compelling new evidence of how this came about.
Study Afternoon - includes two lectures, Q&A and a short break. Tickets £20
Lecture One: Stealing from the Saracens
The first part examines Christopher Wren’s view that Gothic architecture should ‘more rightly be called Saracen’. We see how features like the pointed arch, the rose window and many other signature styles found their way into Europe from vibrant centres like Jerusalem, Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, brought in through the movement of medieval pilgrims, merchants and Crusaders.
Lecture Two: Islamesque
In the second part, the focus is on the ‘anonymous’ builders. Explaining her research from field trips across the Middle East and Europe, Diana Darke presents original, often startling, new evidence to show why highly skilled craftsmen from Muslim Sicily and Spain were employed by top bishops and abbots to mastermind the prestige projects of the day. Romanesque, she proposes, owes its sudden genesis not to classical Roman, but to the Islamic world and should ‘more rightly be called Islamesque.’
This event will be recorded. Ticket holders are emailed a link to view the recording afterwards which is available for one month. Proceeds from ARTscapades ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
Diana Darke’s books, Stealing from the Saracens and Islamesque, are published by Hurst; ticket holders will receive a discount code to use for 25% off the RRP via their website here.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live with Q&A, or on-demand for one month afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.