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IG_42: Plate of L’art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu'à la fin du XVIIIe, 1869–77
(IG_Prisse_1877_IG_42)

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Title

Gâmá El-Seydeh Zeynab. Chemsah ou vitrail en plâtre ajouré. (XIVe siècle)

Type of Object
Artist / Producer
Prisse d’Avennes, Émile · Author
Levié, Adolphe · Lithographer
Studio
Dating
1877
Dimensions
46 x 30 cm

Iconography

Description

Pl. CXLIV in vol. 3 of Émile Prisse d’Avennes’ L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe, 1877. The plate shows a single stucco and glass window with central cypress tree entwined with a yellow tendril with red flowers. The cypress tree is framed by an arch; the window is completed by an interlaced border of green and red interlaces, and flowers in the corners. The background is perforated.

Iconclass Code
25G3(CYPRESS) · trees: cypress
48A98783 · floral interlace ~ ornament
Iconclass Keywords

Technique / State

Technique

Chromolithography

History

Research

Prisse d’Avennes states that the stucco and glass window illustrated comes from the Sayyida Zaynab Mosque in Cairo. The first notice of this mosque is its renovation in 951 AH / 1547 AD. There was a further restoration in 1171 AH / 1768 AD, and between 1297 AH / 1881 AD and 1304 AH / 1887 AD Julius Franz Pasha, as director of the Technical Waqf Department, rebuilt the mosque. Prisse d’Avennes himself speaks of a recent renovation, during which the window depicted was removed (Prisse d’Avennes, 1869–1877, vol. 1, p. 278). As a dated preliminary drawing for this print by his hand shows, he was there in 1858–59 (IG_132).
Prisse d’Avennes dates the window to the 14th AD century for stylistic reasons, but it may have been more recent. Cypresses entwined with a flower stem are a widespread motif. Comparable windows can be found in the Mamluk mosques of al-Muʾayyad (818–26 AH / 1415–22 AD) and of Qijmas al-Ishaqi (886 AH /1481 AD) in Cairo. These mosque windows may date from more recent times, but probably follow the design of the original windows (Flood, pp. 141–142, ills 93, 97). Stucco and glass windows with cypresses also are depicted in the Ottoman manuscript Surname-i Hümayun (990 AH / 1582 AD).

Dating
1877
Related Locations

Bibliography and Sources

Literature

Flood, F. B. (1993). Palaces of crystal, sanctuaries of light: windows, jewels and glass in medieval islamic architecture [PhD thesis, University of Edinburg]. Edinburgh College of Art thesis and dissertation collection. https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/19754

Prisse d’Avennes, É. (1869–1877). L’art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe (Vols. 1-4). J. Savoy & Cie. Retrieved June 26, 2024, from https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9688960b

Volait, M. (2005). Architectes et architectures de l’Égypte moderne, 1830–1950: genèse et essor d’une expertise locale. Maisonneuve et Larose.

Exhibitions

18.5.2024–1.9.2024: Luminosité de l’Orient, Vitromusée Romont

Image Information

Name of Image
IG_Prisse_1877_IG_42
Credits
From The New York Public Library,

Inventory

Reference Number
IG_42
Author and Date of Entry
Sarah Keller 2024

Linked Objects and Images

Linked Objects
L’art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu'à la fin du XVIIIe