Jonathan M. Bloom | |
---|---|
Born | Jonathan Max Bloom April 7, 1950 |
Occupation(s) | Art historian Educator |
Spouse | Sheila Blair (m. 1980) |
Children | 2 (Felicity and Oliver) |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Harvard University University of Michigan |
Thesis | Meaning in Early Fatimid Architecture: Islamic Art in North Africa and Egypt in the Fourth Century (1980) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Art history |
Sub-discipline | Islamic art Asian art |
Institutions | Harvard University Boston College Virginia Commonwealth University |
Jonathan Max Bloom (born April 7,1950) is an American art historian and educator. Bloom has served as the dual Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College,along with his wife,Sheila Blair.
Bloom received his Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Harvard University in 1972. He then continued education and received a Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Michigan in 1975,where his thesis concerned Raqqa ware and was titled "Raqqa Ceramics of the Freer Gallery of Art." [1] Then,Bloom received a Doctor of Philosophy in Art History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard in 1980,graduating in the same exact program as his wife,Sheila Blair,whom he married in that year. His doctoral dissertation was on Fatimid architecture and was titled "Meaning in Early Fatimid Architecture:Islamic Art in North Africa and Egypt in the Fourth Century."
In the same year of receiving their doctorates,Bloom and Blair were named Aga Khan Lecturers on Islamic Art and Architecture at Harvard and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until 1981. Later that year,Bloom was hired as Assistant Professor of Art History at Harvard,a post which he held until 1987,followed by a year as a Research Associate.
In 2000,Bloom and Blair were named to the dual professorship of Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College. In that same year,Bloom served as the principal consultant,with Blair as artistic consultant,for the documentary titled Islam:Empire of Faith . [2] In 2006,Bloom and Blair also began holding the joint post of Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. [3]
Bloom has held numerous visiting professorships,including at the:University of California,Los Angeles (1980),University of Geneva (1985),Yale University (1989),Trinity College (1995),University of Bamberg (1995-1996),Smith College (2000-2001),and University of Louisville (2005).
During the 2014-2015 academic year,Bloom and Blair held a research residency at the Shangri La Museum. [4] The couple retired from teaching in 2018. [5]
A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) from a muezzin,but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can have a variety of forms,from thick,squat towers to soaring,pencil-thin spires.
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Islam:Empire of Faith is a documentary series,made in 2000,that details the history of Islam,from the birth of the Islamic prophet,Muhammad to the Ottoman Empire. It is narrated by Ben Kingsley and is available as three DVDs or two video volumes in NTSC format.
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There have been many architectural styles used in Egyptian buildings over the centuries,including Ancient Egyptian architecture,Greco-Roman architecture,Islamic architecture,and modern architecture.
Mechouar or meshwar is a type of location,typically a courtyard within a palace or a public square at the entrance of a palace,in the Maghreb or in historic al-Andalus. It can serve various functions such as a place of assembly or consultation,an administrative area where the government's affairs are managed. It was the place where the sultan historically held audiences,receptions and ceremonies. The name is sometimes also given to a larger area encompassing the palace,such as the citadel or royal district of a city.
A four-centred arch or four-centered arch is a low,wide type of arch with a pointed apex. Its structure is achieved by drafting two arcs which rise steeply from each springing point on a small radius,and then turning into two arches with a wide radius and much lower springing point. It is a pointed sub-type of the general flattened depressed arch. This type of arch uses space efficiently and decoratively when used for doorways. It is also employed as a wall decoration in which arcade and window openings form part of the whole decorative surface. Two of the most notable types are known as the Persian arch,which is moderately "depressed" and found in Islamic architecture,and the Tudor arch,which is much flatter and found in English architecture. Another variant,the keel arch,has partially straight rather than curved sides and developed in Fatimid architecture.
Fatimid art refers to artifacts and architecture from the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171),an empire based in Egypt and North Africa. The Fatimid Caliphate was initially established in the Maghreb,with its roots in a ninth-century Shia Ismailist Many monuments survive in the Fatimid cities founded in North Africa,starting with Mahdia,on the Tunisian coast,the principal city prior to the conquest of Egypt in 969 and the building of al-Qahira,the "City Victorious",now part of modern-day Cairo. The period was marked by a prosperity amongst the upper echelons,manifested in the creation of opulent and finely wrought objects in the decorative arts,including carved rock crystal,lustreware and other ceramics,wood and ivory carving,gold jewelry and other metalware,textiles,books and coinage. These items not only reflected personal wealth,but were used as gifts to curry favour abroad. The most precious and valuable objects were amassed in the caliphal palaces in al-Qahira. In the 1060s,following several years of drought during which the armies received no payment,the palaces were systematically looted. The libraries largely destroyed,precious gold objects melted down,with a few of the treasures dispersed across the medieval Christian world. Afterwards Fatimid artifacts continued to be made in the same style,but were adapted to a larger populace using less precious materials.
Sheila S. Blair is a Canadian-born American art historian and educator. Blair has served as the dual Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College,along with her husband,Jonathan M. Bloom.
The horseshoe arch,also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch,is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter,so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the arch's full span. Evidence for the earliest uses of this form are found in Late Antique and Sasanian architecture,but it became emblematic of Islamic architecture,especially Moorish architecture. It also made later appearances in Moorish Revival and Art Nouveau styles. Horseshoe arches can take rounded,pointed or lobed form.
Islamic Art:Mirror of the Invisible World is a PBS documentary film that showcases the variety and diversity of Islamic art. It discusses Islamic culture and its role in the rise of world civilization over the centuries. It was produced in 2011 by Alex Kronemer and Michael Wolfe of Unity Productions Foundation.
The Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1167 CE) of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture,drawing on Abbasid architecture,Byzantine,Ancient Egyptian,Coptic architecture and North African traditions;it bridged early Islamic styles and the medieval architecture of the Mamluks of Egypt,introducing many innovations.
Abbasid architecture developed in the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1227,primarily in its heartland of Mesopotamia . The great changes of the Abbasid era can be characterized as at the same time political,geo-political and cultural. The Abbasid period starts with the destruction of the Umayyad ruling family and its replacement by the Abbasids,and the position of power is shifted to the Mesopotamian area. As a result there was a corresponding displacement of the influence of classical and Byzantine artistic and cultural standards in favor of local Mesopotamian models as well as Persian. The Abbasids evolved distinctive styles of their own,particularly in decoration. This occurred mainly during the period corresponding with their power and prosperity between 750 and 932.
The Alcázar Genil is a Muslim-era palace in the city of Granada,Spain. It was originally called al-Qasr al-Sayyid and is located beside the River Genil outside the city walls. Today,only a pavilion of the palace is preserved. It currently houses the Francisco Ayala Foundation.
Architecture in Libya spans thousands of years and includes ancient Roman sites,Islamic architecture,and modern architecture.
Henri Terrasse was a French historian,archeologist,and orientalist who specialized in the art and history of the Islamic world and of Morocco in particular.
The architecture of Tunisia began with the ancient civilizations such as the Carthaginians,Numidians,and Romans. After the 7th century,Islamic architecture developed in the region under a succession of dynasties and empires. In the late 19th century French colonial rule introduced European architecture,and modern architecture became common in the second half of the 20th century. The southern regions of the country are also home to diverse examples of local vernacular architecture used by the Berber (Amazigh) population.