Tomb towers and minarets: analysis of symmetries and geometries of Iranian geometrical ornaments of the Seljuq era. Pictorial requiem for the Kharraqan towers

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Fulltext

    Final published version, 7.54 MB, PDF document

Ornamental adornment of the Kharraqan tomb towers, the most outstanding funeral monuments of the Seljuk era in NW Iran, and those of four best-preserved Seljuq brick minarets in northern Iran, documents the artistic canon of the pre-glaze stage of Iranian Islamic architecture. Despite some later interruptions, these monuments and their plain-brick ornaments, as well as the ‘virtually interlaced’ brick ornaments, stand at the beginnings of a rich development that led to the Safavid architecture of Iran. Besides documentation and study of the geometric character of early Islamic art, which was based on limited technical resources, this study offers insight into symmetry concepts developed at this stage of art and architecture development. This is the last and most complete study of the Kharraqan towers performed before their overwhelming destruction in the 2002 earthquake.

Original languageEnglish
JournalRendiconti Lincei
Volume34
Pages (from-to)703–720
ISSN2037-4631
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

    Research areas

  • Brick patterns, Crystallographic symmetry, Islamic brickwork, Kharraqan towers, Minaret, Seljuk art, Tomb tower

ID: 362058289