Che Arts of Fire Che Arts of Fire ISLAMIC INFLUENCES ON GLASS AND CERAMICS o/fi* ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Edited by Catherine Hess With contributions by Linda KomarofF and George Saliba The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles This publication is issued in Library of Congress conjunction with the exhibition Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Arts of Fire: Islamic Influences The arts of fire : Islamic influences on glass on the Italian Renaissance, and ceramics of the Italian Renaissance / held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, edited by Catherine Hess with contributions May 4 — September 5, 2004. by Linda Komaroff and George Saliba. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and © 2004 J. Paul Getty Trust index. ISBN 0-89236-757-1 (hardcover) — Getty Publications ISBN 0-89236-758-x (pbk.) 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 i. Glassware—Italy—Islamic influences. Los Angeles, California 90049-1682 2. Glassware, Renaissance—Italy. www.getty.edu 3. Pottery, Italian—Islamic influences. Christopher Hudson, Publisher 4. Pottery, Renaissance—Italy. 5. Art, Mark Greenberg, Editor in Chief Islamic—Influence. I. Hess, Catherine, 1957— II. Komaroff, Linda, 1953 — PROJECT STAFF III. Saliba, Georgeo . John Harris, Editor NK5I52.AIA75 2004 Kathleen Preciado, Manuscript Editor 73 8'.0945*09 04—dc22 Jeffrey Cohen, Designer 2003023717 Suzanne Watson, Production Coordinato David Fuller, Cartographer Front cover: Tazza (detail). Egypt or Syria, late thirteenth to early fourteenth century. Typography by Diane Franco See pi. 4. Color separations by Back cover: Pilgrim flask. Italy (Murano), Professional Graphics, Inc., late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. See Rockford, Illinois pi. 12. Printed by CS Graphics, Singapore Frontispiece: furnace, and Glassblower, 1458 (detail). From Dioscorides, Tractatus de herbis, Unless otherwise specified, all photo- Ms. Lat. 993, 238^ Biblioteca Estense di graphs are courtesy of the institution Modena. Photo: Foto Roncaglia, Modena. owning the work illustrated. Page vi: Hugo van der Goes (ca. 1420— 1482). The Adoration of the Shepherds from the Transliteration from Arabic has been Portinari Altarpiece, 1476 (detail). Tempera simplified throughout. on wood, 253 x 304 cm (995/s x 119Vs in.). Florence,' Galleria degt>h Uffizi, ' inv. 3101j >/ . Photo: Eric Lessing/Art Resource, New York. A Spanish ceramic jar and Venetian glass beaker serve as vases. Contents vii Foreword DEBORAH GRIBBON viii Acknowledgments CATHERINE HESS x Map of the Islamic World and Southern Europe, ca. A.D* 700—1800 i Brilliant Achievements: The Journey of Islamic Glass and Ceramics to Renaissance Italy CATH ERINE HESS with tie assistance of Nassim Rossi 35 Color, Precious Metal, and Fire: Islamic Ceramics and Glass LINDA KOMAROFF 55 The World of Islam and Renaissance Science and Technology G EORG E SALI BA Plates 76 Blown Glass 82 Islamic Enameled and Gilded Glass 88 Islamic Influences on Italian Glass 102 Tin Glaze and Luster on Ceramics 122 Islamic Motifs on Italian Ceramics 138 The Allarello 148 The Influence of Porcelain 160 Glossary 162 References 170 Index Foreword L UXURY GLASS AND CERAMICS pro- influences, both technical and aesthetic, of Islamic duced duringo the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries oglass and ceramics makers on their Italian counter- in Italy signify high points of Renaissance art parts. To flesh out this story she has borrowed production. Commonly known as cristallo and important objects from two other museums: maiolica, these were ogroundbreakin go art forms the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the that established taste and became the envy of Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. European courts and other collectors for the next I am indebted to both institutions for their ogen- three hundred years. erosity and willingness to share these rare objects To this day, the visual appeal of these objects, with us; the story told in The Arts of Fire would at times stunningly beautiful and virtuosic, have been incomplete without them. My thanks stimulates both the passion to collect them and pgo also to the two distinguisheo d scholars who the interest to study them. Since the late nine- contributed to this catalogue: George Saliba teenth century, research by collectors, curators, from Columbia University and Linda Komaroff and scholars has helped to fill in the picture from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. of Italian maiolica and glass production. Much Their essays, along with Catherine Hess's his- of this research concentrates on placing these torical introduction, show the vital role played by art forms within the Italian cultural and social Islamic art and science in the shaping of this context, and rightly so. But this artistic pro- intriguing aspect of the Renaissance in Northern duction would not have been possible without Italy. the technologicao l and formal advances that arrived At a time when relations between East and in Italy from outside the peninsula. The Arts of West are fraught, it is a pleasure to sponsor Fire, and the exhibition it accompanies, concen- an exhibition and catalogue that demonstrate such trates on the sometimes overlooked contributions rich and productive connections between very that came to Northern Italian glassmakers and different cultures. I am grateful to Catherine ceramists from the Islamic world. Hess and her collaborators for remindingo us of The Getty's own collection of Italian ceramics this important chapter in the history of ceramics and glass has been ably documented in recent and glass. collection catalogues. Now Catherine Hess, author of those earlier volumes and associate curator DEBORAH GRIBBON in the Department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, has initiated an exploration of the Museums Director, J. Paul Getty Museum objects from a new angle of vision: the complex Vice President, J. Paul Getty Trust vii Acknowledgments c HE IDEA FOR THE EXHIBITION at the Getty Museum that served as impetus for this book of essays began with a number of conversations I had with Tarek Naga. My discus- sions with Tarek— an Egyptian intellectual and architect who is also a friend—were provocative and valuable and I would like to thank him first of all. Linda Komaroff, curator of Ancient and Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and author of one of the essays in this volume, provided critical help and encour- agement from early on. Thanks to her generosity, the Getty Museum was able to borrow many splendid objects from LACMA's collection for the exhibition. Without her help the exhibition, like this volume, could hardly have taken the shape it did. I am likewise grateful to the other indi- viduals responsible for lending to the exhibition: Martin Chapman and Dale Gluckman of the Los Angeleo s CountyJ Museum of Art; Daniel Walker, Stefano Carboni, Peter Barnet, and Laurence Kanter of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and Sunrider, Chen Art Gallery. Each of the forty-two marvelous objects in the exhibition is reproduced, several for the first time, in the plate section of this book. I am thankful to George Saliba, professor of Arabic and Islamic Science at Columbia Uni- versity, for his fascinating essay in this volume, which helps broaden the scope of the material presented here. Timothy Wilson, Keeper of viii Western Art at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, tions, were supportive of both the exhibition and read my essay and his inspired comments improved this book from the very7 beginningO O. Their encour- it immensely. If all specialists provided such civi- agement was critical in bringing these projects lized and insightful critique, the scholarly world to fruition and I am grateful for their help. would be a better place. Nancy Micklewright Thanks also go to my friends Waleed Arafa and also read my essay, and her suggestions further Kerem Takur for their helpful insights into the improved the whole. Priscilia Soucek, professor Islamic religiono . of Islamic Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, This book and its accompanying exhibition New York, kindly read Dr. KomarofFs and Dr. follow in the footstepr s of Alan Caiger-Smitht> ', Saliba's essays. Nassim Rossi, a graduate student potter and ceramics expert, whose research into at Columbia University, provided important the origins of tin-glaze and luster pottery was help in shaping my text and tracking down bibli- nothing less than groundbreaking. My debt to ographic references. him is immense. Various members of Getty Publications — Finally, this volume is dedicated to the Ann Lucke, Mark Greenbergo, Deenie Yudell, Karen memory of Edward Said (1935—2003) for his Schmidt, John Harris, Suzanne Watson, Jeffrey passion, wisdom, and belief that art can transcend Cohen, and Cecily Gardner — are responsible the differences between people. for producing a book as beautiful and cogent as this one. I am particularly indebted to John, CATHERI N E H ESS Suzanne, and Jeffrey for their hard work and brilliant ideas. Kathleen Preciado edited the text Associate Curator, Department of Sculpture and saved the authors from several embarrass- and Decorative Arts, J. Paul Getty Museum ments. The mistakes that remain are our own. At the Getty Museum, curator of paintings Scott Schaefer and, in my department, Ellen South provided various types of support, all valuable. I am thankful to Quincy Houghton, head of exhibitions and public programs, for her help in shaping and focusing the exhibition. Deborah Gribbon, director of the Getty Museum, and William Griswold, associate director for collec- ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Islamic World and Southern Europe ca. A»D. 700-1800 Brilliant Achievements: The Journey of Islamic Glass and Ceramics to Renaissance Italy CATH ERINE HESS with the assistance o/NASSIM ROSSI Ars sine scientia nihil est+ —Jean Mignot (ca. 1390) A BU'L-QASIM MUHAMMAD IBN Abdallah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashirn was born around A.D. 570 in the trading town of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. According to Muslim belief, as an adult this man, known as Muhammad, began to receive messages from God.