Arts of the City Victorious – Islamic Art and Architecture in Fatimid North Africa and Egypt

By Jonathan Bloom

Feb 11, 2008
256 p., 8 x 10
100 b/w + 50 color illus.
ISBN: 9780300135428
ISBN-10: 0300135424

This is the first book-length study of the art and architecture of the Fatimids, the Ismaili Shi’i dynasty that ruled in North Africa and Egypt from 909 to 1171. The Fatimids are most famous for founding the city of al-Qahira (Cairo) in 969, and their art—particularly textiles and luster ceramics, but also metalwork and carved rock-crystal, ivory and woodwork—has been admired for nearly a millennium. In this engaging and accessible book, Jonathan M. Bloom concentrates on securely dated and localized examples of Fatimid art and architecture. His discussions focus on significant examples and are illustrated with over 100 photographs, many in color, and extensive notes and bibliography provide guidance for further reading and research.

Jonathan Bloom shares both the Norma Jean Calderwood University Professorship of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College and the Chair of Islamic Art at the Virginia Commonwealth University with his wife, Sheila Blair. He is the author of the award-winning book, Paper Before Print, as well as co-author of Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power and The Art and Architecture of Islam, published by Yale University Press.

Yale University Press – Amazon