The Great Mosque of Isfahan [1 ed.] 0814730272, 9780814730270

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The Great Mosque of Isfahan OlegGrabar

HAGOP KEVORKIAN SERIES ON NEAR EASTERN ART AND CIVILIZATION

The publication of this work has been aided by a grant from the Hagop Kevorkian Fund.

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF ISFAHAN Oleg Grabar

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

NEW YORK. AND LONDON 19go

Copyright C 1990 by New York Univenity All righ� reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grabar, Oleg. The great mosque of Isfahan/ Oleg Grabar. p. cm. - (Hagop Kevorkian series on Near Eastern art and civilization) Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-8147-3017-1 (alk. paper) 1. Masjid-ijum'ah (I,fahln. Iran) 1. Architecture, lslamic­ -lran-bfahan 3. 1,fahan (lran)-Buildings, structures, etc. I. Tide. II. Series. NA5997.5.I84C,3 1g8g 716' .1'og5595-dc19 Sg-3113 CIP New York Univenity Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.

For Anne-Louise

Contents

Illustrations 1x Introduction

1

CHAPTER 1

The Mosque and the City

7

CHAPTER 2

A Tour of the Mosque

21

CHAPTER 3

The Chronology of the Mosque

43

CHAPTER 4

The Dimensions of the Mosque

61

Postscript by Dr. Eugenio Galdieri Notes

79

Index

139

75

Vil

Illustrations

Illustrations appear as a group following p. 86 1.

2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 1 2. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21.

Air view of the Great Mosque Air view from the northeast Court facade, toward north Court facade, toward east Court facade, toward south Court facade, toward west Roof in southeast quadrant West iwan from the outside North dome, interior Schematic sketch of the building's history Plan of the mosque Plan of the area of Isfahan Exterior walls to the south of the mosque Gate dated 1366 Gate dated 1121-22 Gate in courtyard (area 479) dated 1447 Detailed view of southeastern area Plan -of Buyid mosque after its second phase South dome, from the roof of the mosque South dome, interior toward mihrab, before restorations South dome, zone of transition and cupola IX

22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52.

X

South dome, detail of muqarnas zone of transition South dome, its position within the older building Fragment of inscription (Koran 23:6) on north face of south dome Detail of stucco decoration on upper part of piers supporting south dome Tile panel in western iwan, seventeenth century Panel in area 102 with names of God and Shi