Impeccable: Genesis & Spiritual Principles of Islamic Art
Sadly enough this and several other of the author's titles can be difficult to obtain. Nevertheless, "Art of Islam" is possibly the finest book ever written on Islamic Art, not because it says all there is to be said on this vast and fascinating subject but because it says the right things in the right connections. In fact, I've never been able to understand why this and Burckhardt's "Fez, City of Islam" and "Moorish Culture in Spain" are missing from literature lists in many works on Islamic ornaments, architecture and town planning. Titus Burckhardt was a spiritual giant (if the expression be allowed) whose love for the sacred art and craft he wrote so much about was like a flame burning in perfect stillness. "Art of Islam" is a blissful and edifying experience even for readers with plenty of foreknowledge on the subject. Below is a list with some of the topics (not an index) as I found them along the reading of the book:Genesis and history of Islamic art; Nature of sacred art; Sacraments/Liturgy/Sacred art; The propagation of Islam; Christianism versus Islam; Sufism; Ritual orientation; Structure of Christian basilicas; Mosques in general and in particular; Supersaturation and crystalization in art; Buddhist art; Migration of Asian art; Byzantine art; Idols and icons; Iconoclasm versus Aniconism; Arabesques and interlacements; Sacred numbers 5, 6, 8 and 40, the Ka'ba, Dome of the Rock, Arches, Muqarnas, Mihrabs, Minbars, Portals, Persian versus Gothic vaults; Polarity in languages; Arabic, Chinese and other languages; Book art; Arabic calligraphy; Persian miniatures; Literary style of Quran; Prayer; Pre-Islamic Arabs; Reality and painting; Functionalism; Beauty and Reality; Desintegration of Western art; Expressions of Oneness; Ternary in geometry; Qualitative form versus limiting form; Light and shadow; Magic power versus spiritual elegance; Psychological "law of imitation" among conquered peoples; Government and people; Aristocracy; Public estate; Town planning; Commercial structures; Regulation of daily life; Family life; Social classes; Knighthood and art; Quranic schools; Priesthood and Clergy; Canonization in the Islamic world; Jurisprudence; Veils, Turbants, Gold, Silk and Art of garments; Carpets; Mughal art; Nomads; Umayyads, Sassanids, Seljuks, Safavids, Timurids and Copts; Virgin Mary; Abraham; Symbolism of the loom and of the sword; Necropolises; Pilgrimage to the tombs of saints; and much, much more.
As it says on one of Amazon.com's bookmarks: "The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it" [E. Drew]. Burckhardt's "Art of Islam" is definitely not a book to fail this test.
