A lunch break

Yesterday, after eating a quick lunch at a student cafeteria, I looked at my watch and realized I had 2.5 hours to burn before my France and Francophone Africa class at IES. I ended up hopping on the RER train up to Chatelet, then I took the line 1 metro over to the Louvre to check out their collection of Islamic art. Right now, the Louvre has on loan the collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Since paintings and representations of people/animals are not common in Islamic Art, the majority of the works were decorative plates, stone/ivory work, carpets, and clothing. The calligraphy was absolutely amazing as well on everything. My previous exposure to Islamic Art is pretty much limited to what I saw in Morocco, such as the tomb of Moulay Ismail in Meknes (one of the iconic images of Moroccan architecture is its doorway, even used in Marvine Howe's recent book, titled Morocco), or the decorative arts on mosques such as the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (never has a monument to someone so awful been so beautiful).

One of the most interesting parts was the exhibition of several painted portraits of Persian leaders, all dressed up in 19th-century western military clothing. As I mentioned before, earlier Islamic art did not include many representations of people - it was seen as idolatry, and most animals and humans would be depicted in a slightly round or odd style as to not imitate God's creation. Obviously, over time, something changed. I know very few Muslims, outside of orthodox ones, who are against pictures of themselves these days.